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Washington Monument, Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore. 






GUIDE 



TO 



-BALTIMORE 



WITH AN 



ACCOUNT OF THE GEOLOGY OF ITS ENVIRONS 



AND THREE MAPS 



AMERICAN INSTITUTE 

OF 

iMnnsrinsra- e^tg-i^teee,s 

BALTIMORE MEETING 
February, 1892- 



PREPARED BY THE LOCAL COMMITTEE FOR THE USE 
OF THE INSTITUTE 

4.v 



JOHN MURPHY & CO., PEWTERS, 
BALTIMORE. 



e^* 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



It has seemed to the Local Committee advisable to prepare for the 
use of the members of the American Institute of Mining Engineers a 
guide-book of Baltimore and its environs which shall serve as a suit- 
able souvenir of their visit. Aside from the usual programme, they 
are therefore offered many details regarding institutions and objects 
of public interest, as well as of such private enterprises as may par- 
ticularly attract their attention. 

To this matter is added .a description of the geology of the sur- 
rounding region, both on account of its intrinsic variety and interest 
and because it affords a key to many of Baltimore's characteristics 
and industries. The value of this portion of the book is greatly en- 
hanced by the colored geological maps, which have been secured 
through the aid of the Director of the United States Geological 
Survey. 

Many of the descriptions of the great foundations of Baltimore have 
been furnished by the gentlemen who stand at their heads. Aside 
from those whose authorship is recognized in the text, the editor 
would gratefully acknowledge assistance received from Mr. J. W. 
Tyson, Mr. J. K. Bland, Mr. N. Murray, Dr. W. B. Clark, Mr. H. S. 
Gane, and Mr. M. J. Vea. 

George H. Wileiams. 

Johns Hopkins University, 
Feb. 8th, 1892. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Prefatory Note iii 

Officers vii 

Local Committees viii 

Provisional Programme ix 

Sketch of the City of Baltimore 1 

Public Institutions of Baltimore: 

Parks 7 

City Hall and Post Office 9 

Fort McHenry 10 

Battle Monument 11 

Mt. Vernon Place 12 

The Walters' Art Galleries 13 

The Peabody Institute... 19 

The Enoch Pratt Free Library 24 

The University of Maryland 26 

The Johns Hopkins University 28 

The Woman's College 32 

Other Educational Institutions 35 

The Johns Hopkins Hospital 36 

The Sheppard Asylum 42 

The Baltimore Water Supply 45 

Baltimore Industries which Manufacture Mineral Pro- 
ducts : 

Mineral Products of Maryland in 1889 53 

The Maryland Steel Company 58 

The Baltimore Chrome Works 60 

The Copper Smelting and Rolling Works 60 

The Monumental Chemical Company 63 

The Baltimore Shot Tower 64 

Brick and Tile 64 

V 



vi Contents. 

PAGE. 

Pottery 66 

Fertilizers 67 

The Columbian Iron Works 69 

The McShane Bell Foundry 71 

Bartlett, Hayward & Co 71 

Machinery 72 

The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity: 
Part I. — Geology of the Crystalline Eocks 77 

Introduction 77 

Physiography of the Piedmont Plateau in Maryland 78 

Structure of the Piedmont Plateau in Maryland and its 

Interpretation 81 

Geology of the Eastern or Holocrystalline portion of the 

Piedmont Plateau in Maryland 88 

Particular Description of the Geology near Baltimore 91 

The Stratified Complex 92 

The Gneiss 92 

The Marble (Dolomite) 97 

The Quartz-Schist 102 

The Eruptive Eocks 106 

The Gabbro 106 

The Non-Feldspathic Eruptives 110 

The Granite 112 

The Pegmatite 115 

Ore Deposits 120 

The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity : 

Part II. — Physiography of the Eegion and Geology 
of the Sedimentary Eocks 125 

Physiography 125 

Geology of the Sedimentary Eocks 129 

The General Structure 129 

The Formations 132 

The Columbia Formation 132 

The Lafayette Formation 134 

The Chesapeake Formation 134 

The Potomac Formation 135 

Mesozoic to Pleistocene History 137 



AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING 
ENGINEERS. 



OFFICERS. 

For Year beginning in February, 1891. 

President. 

JOHN BIRKINBINE, Philadelphia, Pa. 

Vice-Presidents, 

HENEY M. HOWE, Boston, Mass. 

S. F. EMMONS, Washington, D. C. 

H. S. MUNROE, New York City. 

(Terra expires February, 1892.) 

S. B. CHRISTY, Berkeley, Cal. 

E. C. PECHIN, Roanoke, Va. 

J. C. F. RANDOLPH, New York City. 

(Term expires February, 1893.) 

Managers. 

J. H. BRAMWELL, Bramwell, W. Va. 

FRANK FIRMSTONE, Easton, Pa. 

W. H. PETTEE, Ann Arbor, Mich. 

(Term expires February, 1892.) 

JOSEPH D. WEEKS, Pittsburgh, Pa. 

W. J. TAYLOR, Chester, N. J. 

S. T. WELLMAN, Thurlow, Pa. 

(Term expires February, 1893.) 

JAMES C. BAYLES,* New York City. 

J. A. PORTER, Durango, Colo. 

J. C. SMOCK, Trenton, N. J. 

(Term expires February, 1894.) 

Secretary. Treasurer. 

R. W. RAYMOND, THEODORE D. RAND, 

13 Burling Slip, New York City. Philadelphia, Pa. 

* Appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. J. B. Mackintosh. 



BALTIMORE LOCAL COMMITTEE. 



James W. Tyson, Chairman. 
J. Harry Lee, Secretary. 



Jno. R. Bland. 
J as. G. Dagron. 



John R. Bland. 
F. H. Smith. 
Enoch Pratt. 



Executive Committee. 
Jas. W. Tyson, Chairman. 

David T. Day. 
J. Harry Lee. 



Finance Committee. 

James A. Gary. 
James W. Tyson. 
Thomas M. Chatard. 
H. Irvine Keyser. 



Hotel and Place of Meeting Committee. 
David Baker. Francis T. Peacock. 

Thomas M. Chatard. David T. Day. 

Thomas M. King.' W. B. Clark. 

H. B. C. Nitze. W. S. Aldrich. 



Banquet and Reception Committee. 
James W. Tyson. James G. Dagron. 

Gen. Felix Agnus. James Hodges. 

David L. Bartlett. Col. John L. Thomas. 

E. Renouf. Francis Henry Parnell. 



Programme and Badge Committee. 
George H. Williams. Thomas M. Chatard. 

J. Harry Lee. W. B. Clark. 

David Baker. Arnold K. Reese. 

B. S. Randolph. 



James G. Dagron. 
Mayor Latrobe. 
Ex-Mayor Davidson. 
Charles F. Mayer. 
Thomas W. King. 
Mr. Whitney. 



Excursion Committee. 

Charles C. Coffin. 
M. Weis. 

Walter J. Franklin. 
R. W. L. Rasin. 
William Keyser. 
George A. Pope. 
George C. Wilkens. 



AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING 
ENGINEERS. 



PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME. 

Tuesday Evening, — Opening Session. Addresses of Welcome 
by the Chairman of the Local Committee, the Mayor of Baltimore, 
and the President of Johns Hopkins University. Also, paper by 
Mr. George F. Kunz, New York City, on the Mining of Gems and 
other Minerals in Hungary, Bohemia and Russia, which will be illus- 
trated with lantern views. 

Wednesday. — Walters' Gallery. Sessions — Morning, Afternoon 
and Evening, for the reading and discussion of papers. 

Thursday. — Excursion to Annapolis, visit to State House, U. S. 
Naval Academy, and Reception by the Governor of Maryland. In 
the evening a Subscription Dinner at the Hotel Rennert. The price 
of tickets has been fixed at $6.00 each for gentlemen and $4.00 for ladies. 

Friday. — Excursion to various points of interest on the Harbor, 
including Sparrow's Point Steel Works, Monumental Chemical Works, 
Rasin Fertilizing Works, Oil Refineries, Baltimore Copper Smelting 
Works, Chesapeake Pottery and the Columbian Iron Works, where 
two U. S. cruisers are now building. 

Friday Evening. — A concluding session, if the business of the 
meeting should require it. 

Saturday. — Short excursions to the Belt Line Tunnel and other 
points of interest. 



The following papers have been announced : 

The Mining of Gems and other Minerals in Hungary, Bohemia and 
Russia, by George F. Kunz. 

ix 



x Provisional Programme. 

Southern Phosphates Deposits, by George H. Eldridge, Wash- 
ington, D. C. 

Phosphate Chemistry as it Concerns the Miner, by Dr. T. M. 
Chatard, Washington, D. C. 

Experiments with the Roessler Converter at the Marsec Refinery, 
Park City, by C. A. Stetefeldt, San Francisco, Cal. 

The Control of Silicon in Pig Iron, by Wm. H. Morris, Pottstown, 
Pa. 

The Great Gossan Lead of Virginia, by Edgar C. Moxham, of 
Pulaski, Va. 

The Simultaneous production of Ammonia, Tar and Heating Gas, 
by Alphonse Hennin, Springfield, 111. 

Eastern and Kentucky Coals and Cokes, by Joseph H. Allen, 
Pineville, Ky. 

La Gardette: The History of a French Gold Mine, by T. A. 
Rickard, Allemont, Isere, France. 

Granulating Magnetic Iron Ore with the Sturtevant Mill, at the 
Croton Magnetic Mine, by W. H. Hoffman, Brewster, N. Y. 

High Pressure Hydraulic Presses in Iron Works, by R. M. Dealen, 
Dusseldorf, Germany. 

Notes on the Selection of Iron Ores, Limestones and Fuels for the 
Blast Furnace, by Fred. W. Gordan, Philadelphia, Pa. 

The Iron ores of Ashe County, N. C, by H. B. C. Nitze, Chapel Hill, 
N.C. 

Zinc Mines and Mining near Webb City, Mo., by Carl Henrich, 
Ducktown, Tenn. 

The Protection of Hearth and Bosh Walls of the Blast Furnace, by 
James Gayley, Braddocks, Pa. 

The Rock Drill Applied to the opening of Blast Furnace Holes, by 
David Baker, Sparrow's Point, Md. 

A New Method for removing Skulls from Direct Metal Ladles, by 
David Baker, Sparrow's Point, Md. 

Notes on the Geological Origin of Phosphate of Lime in the 
United States and Canada, by Walter D. M. Davidson, New 
York City. 

Ancient Method of Silver Lead Smelting in Peru, by Otto F. 
Pfordte, Jersey City, N. J. 

There will be a special discussion of the subject of phosphates at 
such time during the sessions of Wednesday as may be found most 



Provisional Programme. xi 

convenient to the participants ; and discussion is also invited on the 
subjects of tests and Requirements of Structural Wrought Iron and 
Steel, and on any other topics suggested by the papers of this or the 
preceding meeting. Timely notice is requested by the undersigned 
of proposed contributions to such discussions, in order that time may 
be set apart for them. 



SKETCH OF THE CITY OF BALTIMORE. 1 



The historic beginnings of Baltimore lack the tradi- 
tional haze of obscurity associated with the foundation of 
great cities. The proprietary government of Maryland 
emerged from the era of troublous times, and entered 
upon the path of future growth and development towards 
the close of the first quarter of the eighteenth century. 
Commerce expanded, population increased and settlements 
rapidly extended to the northward. It was not long be- 
fore the need of a port near the head of the Chesapeake 
Bay began to be felt, and attention to be directed to a 
remarkable site on the north side of the Patapsco River, 
offering easy access and safe harbor to vessels of large 
size, at a distance of but fourteen miles from the waters 
of the Bay. On the 14th of July, 1729, a petition signed 
by the leading men of Baltimore County was presented 
in the Provincial Assembly, praying for the erection of 
a town at this point. Three weeks later, a bill to the 
same effect was passed and the history of Baltimore City 
had begun. 

The early life of the settlement was a race for su- 
premacy in trade with older towns of the province — 
Joppa, the county seat, Elkridge Landing, and Annapolis. 

1 By Mr. J. H. Hollander. 



2 Sketch of the City of Baltimore. 

But it is pre-eminently in the struggle for commercial 
existence that the fittest survives, and Baltimore, with a 
magnificent harbor, numerous mill streams and rich iron 
deposits, soon forged ahead of the river points with their 
rude landings, and less opportunity for developing and 
being developed by the Bay trade. The issue of the 
contest was foregone. It reached its culmination in 
1768, when the privileges and dignities of County Town, 
a court-house and a prison, were transferred from Joppa 
to Baltimore. 

The outbreak of the Revolutionary War cut off foreign 
supplies and stimulated local manufactures and shipping. 
It indirectly prepared the way for a period of remarkable 
commercial activity and prosperity, following the final 
suspension of hostilities in 1783. Continental wars and 
colonial revolutions increased the European demand for 
American staples. Export trade in the products of Mary- 
land, tobacco, flour, wheat, and corn, was diverted from 
the hands of British and Dutch agents and concentrated 
in Baltimore. Local merchants soon began to engage in 
carrying trade, and " Baltimore clippers" became famous 
throughout the world. For many years these " skim- 
mers of the sea," able to sail within four and a half 
points of the wind, were the fleetest craft upon the seas. 
More than any other single cause, they contributed to 
the early commercial development of Baltimore. 

Henceforth the history of Baltimore is a story of steady 
growth and development, interrupted only by great epi- 
sodes in our national life. Daring blockade running and 
indirect shipments enabled her merchants to retain pos- 
session of a large portion of foreign commerce even dur- 



Sketch of the City of Baltimore. 3 

ing the War of 181 2. The city was attacked by land and 
water, but in each case successfully defended. During the 
latter assault, a patriotic Marylander, while detained on 
board a British vessel, composed our national anthem, 
" The Star Spangled Banner." 

Baltimore was the natural market for the agricultural 
products of the interior and Western country. Active 
communication had long been maintained with this vast 
region ; in early days by pack horses, later by long wagon 
trains that traversed the great Northern turnpikes as far 
as the Ohio River. The introduction of steamboats upon 
the navigable waters of the West displaced this means of 
transportation. Trade was diverted to other centres, 
and the commercial relations of Baltimore threatened. 
Public-spirited citizens immediately began an agitation 
for improved means of communication with the West. 
In February, 1827, the first railroad charter granted in 
the United States was given by the General Assembly to 
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The work of actual 
construction was begun in the following year ; in 1853 
the road was completed to the Ohio River, and in 1857 
to St. Louis. This great iron link is an organic part of 
the life history of Baltimore. It opened up a vast unde- 
veloped region and secured for the city the full advantages, 
suggested by its natural location, of a seaboard market 
and distributing depot for the West. 

Both trade and manufactures suffered keenly from the 
events of the Civil War. Maryland was a border State 
and experienced all the evils of an exposed frontier and 
constant military occupation. Communication with the 
South was completely cut off and Western trade tern- 



4 Sketch of the City of Baltimore. 

porarily diverted to other channels. But the causes of 
prosperity were suspended, not destroyed, and as the 
prostrate industrial life of the country revived, Balti- 
more fairly bounded into commercial importance. The 
vigor and activity of those early days has never waned. 
Subsequent progress has been steady but absolute. It 
is for this reason that Baltimore now offers more real 
advantages for trade, commerce, and industry, than any 
other city on the Atlantic seaboard. 

Aside from material inducements, Baltimore is pre- 
eminently a pleasant place to live in. Its climate is 
temperate and bracing, removed alike from the bitter 
cold and enervating heat of more extreme latitudes. 
The peculiar topographical arrangement of the region 
facilitates an admirable system of drainage and renders 
the city as healthful as picturesque. Municipal improve- 
ments have kept pace with advancing civilization. Just 
as Baltimore was the first city in the United States to be 
illuminated by gas, the first to aid the construction of a 
railroad, and the first to be connected with the outside 
world by electric telegraph, so now its water supply is 
unequalled in magnitude and purity, its parks and squares 
far-famed for natural beauty, and its police and fire de- 
partments of rare completeness and efficiency. Much has 
been written of the warmth of Baltimore social life. The 
elements that constitute it evade analysis ; but there is 
everywhere felt a characteristic spirit of heartiness and 
fellowship, that raises Maryland hospitality to the same 
pre-eminence as the beauty of its women and the excel- 
lence of its bay products. 



Sketch of the City of Baltimore. 5 

Baltimore ranks as one of the foremost educational 
centres of the country. A graded system of public 
schools provides free instruction in primary, secondary, 
collegiate, and normal studies. The first manual training 
school to be maintained as part of a public school system 
was established in this city. Flourishing colleges of law, 
medicine, and dentistry, private schools and female insti- 
tutes attract hundreds of students from every State of 
the Union. The Woman's College promises to become 
to the South, what Vassar, Smith, and Wellesley Colleges 
are to the North. Personal philanthropy in the forms 
of the Peabody Institute and the Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity has made Baltimore almost unique among modern 
cities. The experience of the latter institution forms a 
remarkable chapter in the history of American higher 
education. Almost within the period which similar 
foundations have devoted to mere tentative efforts, Johns 
Hopkins has attained the front rank among higher insti- 
tutions of learning. Means of positive instruction are 
supplemented by public libraries, accessible lecture courses 
and choice art collections. Academic currents penetrate 
every stratum of Baltimore society and exercise wide and 
far-reaching influence upon its intellectual life. 

The prosperity of Baltimore is but an earnest of future 
development. Geographical position and railroad con- 
nection give it special advantages as an outlet for Southern 
and Western products. Interior situation, lessening the 
cost of coal and inland transportation, make it a favorable 
port of entry for foreign imports. Cheap living, low 
rents, skilled labor, exemption of plants from taxation 



6 Sketch of the City of Baltimore. 

invite manufacturing industries of all kinds. Finally 
the adjacent coal fields, iron beds, marble quarries of the 
State, the inexhaustible riches of the Chesapeake unfold 
a vista of wealth and prosperity, before which even sober 
historical thought is tempted to become prophetic. 



PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF BALTIMORE. 



PARKS. 



Druid Hill Park. — This park, containing an area of 
693 acres, is the pride of the city of Baltimore. By 
many people both at home and abroad, it has been pro- 
nounced the finest public park in the world. It was 
purchased from the Rogers family by the city, in 1860, 
for the sum of $500,000. Its former owners having 
laid it out over a hundred years ago in the style of the 
English parks, had taken great care of the estate and 
diligently preserved the many and ancient trees with which 
nature had adorned it. 

Since the city has come into possession of the property, 
its great natural beauty has been heightened by everything 
that the art of the landscape gardener could suggest. 

Its numerous lakes have been stocked with carp and 
gold fish, and about 200 deer, and several flocks of sheep 
roam at large throughout the place. 

The entrances on North Avenue at Oliver Street, and 
on Madison Avenue, are both adorned with gateways, 
and the Mount Royal Avenue entrance is marked by a 
fountain whose jet sends up a stream through a five inch 
nozzle, 90 to 100 feet high. 

7 



8 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

The park is reached by the Cable cars, Madison Avenue 
and Pennsylvania Avenue street cars, Citizens' Line street 
cars, Reistertown horse cars, and Northern Central rail- 
way from Calvert or Union Depots in the city to Wood- 
berry Station. 

Patterson Park. — This is a tract of land containing 
113 acres, whose main entrance is on Lombard Street. 
The place affords a fine view of the harbor and adjacent 
territory. It is of historical interest as containing the 
original earthworks thrown up by citizen volunteers in 
1814, when fearing an attack on the city by the British. 
The enemy never reached the place however, being de- 
feated several miles below the city at North Point. The 
Cable cars and the Citizens' Line street cars connect this 
Park with Druid Hill Park, five miles distant. 

Federal Hill Park. — This park commands one of the 
best views of the city and harbor to be found in Bal- 
timore. It has been used as the site of the Marine 
Observatory to signal the approach of shipping. The 
grounds were purchased by the city in 1878, at a cost of 
$64,000. The hill is 85 feet above tide, and covers an 
area of 8 \ acres. 

Riverside Par-Jc. — This is a pleasure resort of 14J acres 
in extent. It is of historical note as containing the earth- 
works known as " Fort Covington," a six gun battery 
which sunk the barges of the British fleet while attempt- 
ing to land a night force in the rear of Ft. McHenry 
in 1814. 

Harlem Park. — This plot of ground occupies about two 
squares. It is located in the West End, between Calhoun 
and Gilmor streets, and Edmondson and Harlem Ave- 



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City Hall and Post Office. 9 

nues. In 1855 the Odd Fellows erected here a monu- 
ment to Jas. L. Ridgely. 

Lafayette Square. — This square is situated between 
Lanvale street, Carrollton, Arlington, and Lafayette 
Avenues. The Normal school and five churches face it. 

Other Parks. — There are numberless other small parks 
and squares throughout the city that add to the attrac- 
tiveness of Baltimore as a place of residence. Among 
others may be mentioned, Franklin Square, Eutaw 
Place, Union Square, Madison Square, and Perkins' 
Spring Square. 

CITY HALL AND POST OFFICE. 

The City Hall was commenced November 11, 1866, 
and after nine years in construction, was dedicated on the 
25th of October, 1875. The grounds and building cost 
$2,271,000, the architect being Mr. G. A. Frederick. 
The building of Renaissance style occupies an entire 
block, bounded by North, Lexington, Fayette and Holli- 
day streets, and its dimensions are 225 feet long and 
140 feet broad. The space covered by the building is 
31,500 square feet. 

The structure is four stories high with mansard roofs. 
The centre wing is surmounted by an iron dome 260 
feet from the ground, and 170 feet in circumference. A 
balcony 250 feet from the street affords a commanding 
view of the city. Although a strictly fire proof build- 
ing, each department is furnished with secure vaults of 
lar^e dimensions, lined with iron and steel. Each room 
is well lighted, heated by hot water and ventilated by ducts. 



10 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

All the departments of the city government find 
quarters in the building. On the ground floor are the 
departments of the Water Board, Board of Health, City 
Commissioners, Inspectors of Buildings and Gas, City Fire 
and Alarm Telegraph, Port Warden and Board of Police. 

On the second or principal floor are the offices of the 
Mayor, City Register, Comptroller, Collector, Appeal Tax 
Court, School Board, Street Commissioners and Park 
Commissioners. 

The third floor is occupied by the Chambers of both 
Branches of the City Council ; the grand Public Hall, 
City Library, Law offices, Water Board, City Surveyors 
and Engineers. There is an entrance on each side of the 
building. The main one on Holliday Street, facing the 
east, is marked by a handsome marble portico with 
doors of bronze. 

The Post Office is a large and commodious building, 
situated in the heart of the business part of the city. 
It occupies a square of ground between the Battle Monu- 
ment and the City Hall. The site cost $500,000, and 
the total cost, including site and building, was over a 
million dollars. The structure is in the style of the 
Renaissance, being very high and broad, and accommo- 
dates not only the mail service but also furnishes rooms 
for other departments of the National Government. 

FORT MeHENEY. 

This fort, owing to the part it played in the war of 
1812, has a national historical interest. In 1814 the 
British, in an attempt to capture the city of Baltimore, 



Battle Monument. 11 

landed an array at North Point, and then advanced to 
bombard the fort. Both the land and naval forces, 
however, were repulsed, and it was during the bombard- 
ment that the national anthem, " The Star Spangled 
Banner," was written by Francis S. Key, who was a 
prisoner on one of the British ships during the engage- 
ment. The fort was constructed of brick in the form of 
a star about the year 1792, but it has since been consider- 
ably enlarged and strengthened, and is now surrounded 
by spacious grounds. 

At present companies D, G and I, of the 3rd Artillery 
U. S. A., are stationed there under the command of Col. 
Bainbridge. This force numbers twelve officers and about 
180 men. The fort can be easily reached by taking the 
Druid Hill cars to Locust Point. 

BATTLE MONUMENT. 

This Monument was erected by the city to the memory 
of those citizens of Baltimore, who fell on the 12th and 
13th of September, 1814, at the battle of North Point and 
bombardment of Fort McHenry. It stands in Monument 
Square, on the site of the first court house, built in 1769, 
and demolished early in this century. It is centrally lo- 
cated, being directly in front of the Post Office and near 
the present Court House. 

The Monument without the statue is 42 feet 8 inches 
high, the statue 9 feet 6 inches — total height 52 feet 2 
inches above the platform. M. Godfroy was architect, and 
Antonio Capeleno, sculptor. The design of the structure 
is intended to be allegorical. The shaft of the monument 



12 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

presents a fasces, symbolical of the Union. This is orna- 
mented at the bottom on the north and south fronts with 
bas-reliefs, one representing the battle of North Point 
and death of General Ross ; the other, the bombardment 
of Fort McHenry. Lachrymal urns indicate the purpose 
of the monument, and the names of those who fell in 
battle are inscribed on the entablature. The whole is 
surmounted by a statue, representing the city of Baltimore. 
The corner-stone of the structure was laid September 
12th, 1815. 

MOUNT VERNON PLACE. 

Mount Vernon Place is one of the best sites in Balti- 
more for a stranger to visit, as its whole tone is typical 
of the city. Its monument, fountains, statues, roadways, 
public and private buildings, have all an air about them 
of characteristic solidity and quiet beauty. 

Its most striking object is the Washington Monument, 
of white marble, erected by the State of Maryland to the 
memory of the " Father of His Country." The base 
of the monument is 60 feet square and 35 feet high, from 
which a doric column (average diameter 18 feet) rises to 
a height of 165 feet above ground. Upon the capital of 
the column is a gallery and above that a statue of George 
Washington, 15 feet high. It represents him in the act 
of resigning his commission as General-in-Chief of the 
United States armies. The figure was executed by 
Gregory, and is pronounced a work of great merit. The 
architect of the whole structure was Mr. Robert Mills. 
The base of the monument is 100 feet above tide, its top 
280 feet. In the inside a spiral staircase of 220 steps 



Walters' Gallery. 13 

ascends to where a most superb view of the city is 
presented . 

The corner stone was laid July 4, 1815, and the statue 
raised into position October 19, 1830, about fifteen years 
having elapsed in the construction of the whole work. 

From the four sides of the monument grass-plats radi- 
ate north, east, south and west. These are adorned with 
flowers, fountains and statuary, of the last named the 
most noticeable are several bronze pieces by Barye, rep- 
resenting Peace, War, Force and Order, and a colossal 
lion; also "Military Courage" by Dubois. 

The Peabody Institute, Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and numerous private dwellings surround the place. Of 
the private houses that of Mr. Walters, whose collection 
of paintings and curios is world-renowned, is of most 
interest to visitors. 

In the near vicinity of Mount Vernon Place are two 
large hotels and several of Baltimore's most famous clubs. 

WALTERS' GALLERY. 

This is in the private house of Mr. William T. Walters, 
5 W. Mount Vernon Place. Mr. Walters began life as 
an engineer, but early turned his attention to the collect- 
ing of works of art, in which he has been ably assisted 
by his son in late years. He is now, as all know who 
are acquainted with the subject, an authority on Japanese 
and Oriental art. His collection in this line is the largest, 
most complete, and most carefully selected private collec- 
tion in this country. His galleries are open to the 
public at a nominal fee, devoted to a local charity, every 



14 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

Wednesday in February and March, and Wednesdays and 
Saturdays in April. Also on February 22nd and Easter 
Monday. 

The two following extracts, published eight years since, 
will serve to indicate a few of the treasures to be found 
upon a visit to Mr. Walters' house. 

[Extract from the New York Sun (editorial), February 27th, I884.] 

Mr. Walters reverses the principle of nothing for art 
and everything for show. There is no other collection of 
pictures in America that equals in importance and inter- 
est his collection. There are great public galleries in 
Europe that far overshadow it, especially in their dis- 
play of the works of the middle-age masters ; but there 
is no collection, public or private, in Europe that equals 
it in its high standard of excellence or in the variety of 
the schools represented, nor are there anywhere galleries 
so handsome, so agreeable in proportion, or so fitting in 
adaptation to use and in beauty of decoration. The pic- 
tures themselves are a complete index to the best art of 
this century. Nothing is missing, and every example is 
of the best manner of the master it represents. There 
can be no higher purpose in forming a collection than is 
herein implied, and it has been maintained steadily from 
the beginning. 

There are four galleries in all, and while the two which 
contain the paintings are of the importance described, the 
collection of Oriental art arranged in the others is the 
most valuable in existence. There are between four and 
five thousand examples, ranging from the finest porcelains 



Walters' Gallery. 15 

of the best epochs of the art of the Chinese ceramist down 
to Inros and Netsukes, the exquisite trivialities of the 
consummate artists of Japan. The field which it covers 
is a wide one, and the museums of Europe do not approach 
it in interest. There is nothing like it anywhere, and to 
the student of ceramic art and of the marvellous workman- 
ship of the Chinese and Japanese in the precious and other 
metals it affords an opportunity for research and enlighten- 
ment that he will not find anywhere else. It has the pro- 
portions of a museum, but it is one in which only objects 
of the rarest beauty are preserved. 

[Extract from the New York Tribune, February 27th, 1884>.~\ 

Mr. Walters' finely chosen collection of paintings, 
choice as it is, can hardly be termed unique in this coun- 
try. But there is nothing in America to be compared 
with his departments of Oriental art. 

No hint of this is afforded by the exterior of the plain, 
old-fashioned house under the shadow of the Washington 
monument. Spacious and substantial, it has the air of 
permanence peculiar to the houses of Mount Vernon 
Place, and nothing more. The large parlors contain 
bronzes, cases of rare old silver, and groups of Royal 
Worcester, Dresden and Sevres, which elsewhere would 
be counted noteworthy. There is a dainty chamber fitted 
up in blue, with furniture and wall-hangings of the time 
of Marie Antoinette. There is another furnished in the 
old Dutch style, with a richly-carved cabinet, a delight- 
ful writing desk, with brass mountings. Another upper 
room contains bronzes and water colors by Barye, who 



16 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

was among French artists in bronze what Rosa Bonheur 
is among painters. Rare French vases and bronzes catch 
the eye in the panelled dining room. 

The first gallery at the rear of the house is lined and 
nearly filled with cases of porcelains. On the walls hang 
tapestries with colors as soft and beautiful as those of 
the Persian rugs upon the floor. In the centre, upon a 
stand of teak wood and brass, is a bronze some eight feet 
high, with dragons writhing up its sides toward the figure 
of a daimio on top. The slight ebony framework of these 
great cases presents no interference with the splendid effect 
of the porcelains within. Here are vases fashioned under 
the famous Ming dynasty, 1 368-1649 ; others of the early 
eighteenth century, showing in their decorations the effect 
of European influences; here is a stately array of blue 
and white ware, with the so-called hawthorn, really plum- 
blossom, decoration, and near by is a little vase, perhaps 
rarest of all to connoisseurs, with white panels relieved 
by black, upon which the hawthorn pattern reappears. 
I have no time now to dwell upon the solid colors, the 
bullock's blood, Chinese white, turquoise, mustard yel- 
low, sage green and tea color, or upon the one hundred 
and fifty examples of egg-shell porcelain. There are 
1,400 specimens of the Chinese ceramic art, each selected 
by Mr. Walters or by his son, who inherits his culti- 
vated tastes and fine judgment, for it is worth while to 
bear in mind that this is not a dealer's collection, but 
every object is the result of the ripe experience of the 
collector. 

Japanese as well as Chinese art finds a place in this 
gallery. There is a case of genuine Satsuma, whose 



Walters' Gallery. 17 

creamy yellow and pale chocolate hues and delicate 
crackle are known to most people only through imita- 
tions. There are 400 Japanese porcelains and potteries, 
and the whole ceramic display illustrates the history 
of the art for over 800 years. Nothing now can 
be said of the drawers filled with Chinese flacons and 
Japanese sword guards, pipes and 150 swords, "the 
jewelry of Japan/ 7 

In a covered bridge extending over an alley from this 
first room to the picture gallery are scores of bronzes, 
including several by Saymin and Gorosa, among which 
is a little group of the most exquisite porcelains in the 
collection, examples of the bullock's blood, peach-blow 
and coral splashes. In the picture gallery are four large 
cases containing royal lacquers, and rows of drawers filled 
with Netsukes, ivory carvings and Inros. 

Let me sum up the Oriental department. There are 
200 bronzes, 200 metal objects of gold, silver, iron and 
copper; 150 swords, 300 sword guards and 400 other 
appliances of the sword, 500 ivory carvings and 500 
lacquers, illustrating the history of lacquer-work for 
over 700 years. With the porcelains and a few miscel- 
laneous pieces, the Oriental department contains 4,100 
objects, chosen, in the language of the collector, " to 
secure characteristic examples of the beautiful, rather than 
of the merely curious." 

The 150 oil paintings represent a similarly intelligent 
and catholic process of selection. The collector, I judge, 
has had it in mind to illustrate the art history of the 
century by examples of men whose influence has been 
most strongly felt. In French art expressions of the 
2 



18 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

religious sentiment of Ary Scheffer and the fiery spirit 
of Horace Vernet are followed by examples of Delacroix 
and Delaroche, and these by examples of Jalabert and 
Yvon; four works by Gerome_, including the "Diogenes" 
and " Christian Martyrs ; " five by Millet, four by Rous- 
seau, three by Corot, three by Fromentin, four by Dau- 
bigny, three by Dupre and a Troyon. 

One group of four landscapes, which include Rousseau's 
magnificent " Winter Solitude," is the artistic center of the 
collection. Couture, Decamps, Gleyre, Isabey, Saint Jean, 
Plassan, with Meissonier, Herbert, Schreyer, De Neuville, 
Detaille, Jacque, Van Marcke and Ziem — these names 
may serve to indicate the extent to which French art is 
represented. 

Fortuny, Jiminez and Rico illustrate the Franco- 
Spanish school ; Baron Leys 7 " Edict of Charles V," 
speaks for modern Belgian art ; the Achenbachs, Preyer, 
Vautier and Hiddemann represent Dusseldorf; Gallait 
and Clays, Brussels ; Professor Muller, Vienna ; Carl 
Becker and Knaus, Berlin ; Millais, Alma Tadema and 
Boughton, England ; and America is represented by 
Gilbert Stuart, A. B. Durand, C. L. Elliott, George A. 
Baker, F. E. Church, Eastman Johnson and H. Bolton 
Jones. Necessarily in so small a collection the repre- 
sentation is little more than an incomplete expression 
of the collector's purpose. Among other pictures Mil- 
let's original design in black and white for the "Angelus" 
easily stands first in point of interest. 

The water color room opening from the first gallery 
contains water colors by Alma Tadema, Green, Fortuny, 
Meissonier, a drawing in india ink by Rousseau, and 



The Peabody Institute. 19 

another in ink and pastel, together with statues by 
Rinehart and Palmer. 



THE PEABODY INSTITUTE. 1 

This great foundation was endowed by George Peabody, 
an American banker, who at that time resided in Lon- 
don, but who had made the first part of his great fortune in 
Baltimore between the years 1815 and 18-36. A strong 
friendship for the people of this city led him to determine 
that he would found an institution which should advance 
the intellectual and moral culture of the whole community. 
In the year 1854, after consultation with friends in Balti- 
more, as to the kind of institution which might best fulfil 
his purposes, he proceeded to develop the scheme. With 
the aid of the Hon. John P. Kennedy and one or two 
other associates, he matured a plan which he embodied in 
a letter, dated February 12, 1857, to twenty-five gentle- 
men of this city whom he selected to be trustees to carry 
his designs into effect. At the same time he placed a fund 
of $300,000 at their disposal, to be expended in securing 
a site, erecting a building, and maintaining an educational 
establishment of the highest order, which should include 
a Library, a School of Lectures, an Academy of Music, 
a Gallery of Art and a System of Premiums to the High 
Schools of the city. These gentlemen accepted the trust 
in the spirit of the founder, and immediately proceeded 
to secure a piece of ground for a building. A site was 
selected on Mount Vernon Place near the Washington 

• ! By Professor P. R. Uhler. 



20 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

Monument, and a massive white marble building, 150 
feet long by 75 feet wide, was begun in 1858, and the 
corner stone laid on the sixteenth of April, 1859. This 
wing was finished and ready for use in the autumn of 1861. 

In the meantime, Mr. Peabody increased his gift to 
$500,000, and on the occasion of his visit to Baltimore 
in 1866, he raised the endowment to $1,000,000. To 
this princely sum, in 1869, he added Virginia and 
Tennessee bonds, which brought the fund to a total of 
$1,240,000. This west wing when completed was pro- 
vided with a Lecture Hall, occupying the entire lower 
floor, and above it was placed a library apartment, 100 
feet long by 40 feet wide, separated by a longitudinal 
partition from a large reading-room and offices for the 
public business. Before the building was finished, the 
Rev. Dr. John G. Morris resigned his place in the Board 
of Trustees to take the position of Librarian. The 
functions of this office he exercised with undoubted ability, 
from 1860 to the summer of 1867, and he also assisted 
the committees in securing able lecturers and accomplished 
concert masters. 

During the first three years, the collections of books 
grew less rapidly than later, because of the high rates of 
exchange and the necessity of importing books from 
Europe. Only books of scholarly value were to be col- 
lected, and much time was spent in preparing printed 
lists of such as were suitable for a library of reference. 
From 1861 to the month of May, 1866, about 15,000 
volumes had been collected, and their titles, written on 
cards, were placed in drawers for the free use of all per- 
sons who came to read in the library. As an appro- 



The Peabody Institute. 21 

priation of $100,000 bad been made for books and maps; 
large orders were sent to the three agents in Europe, and 
great numbers of volumes were shipped to the Institute 
before the elose of the year 1866. 

The Library, which had been placed and arranged on 
the second floor of the west wing, was formally opened 
to the public on October 25, 1866, in the presence of the 
Founder. On this occasion, Mr. Peabody received the 
citizens of Baltimore at the Institute, and listened to an 
address written by the Hon. John P. Kennedy, but which, 
in his absence, was delivered by Judge George W. Dob- 
bin. To this Mr. Peabody replied in a sympathetic tone, 
which deeply impressed the large audience that crowded 
the hall. The Governor of the State, Hon. Thomas 
Swann, was also present and spoke in honor of the 
occasion. 

The work of the Institute was now in full operation, 
the Library was open to the public from 9 until 4 o'clock 
daily except Sunday ; courses of lectures were delivered 
in the autumn and winter; public concerts of orchestral 
music were given in the large hall ; and premiums of 
money and gold medals were annually conferred upon 
the most distinguished graduates of the city high schools. 

In the month of June, 1867, the Eev. Dr. Morris 
withdrew from his position in the Institute, and the 
Assistant Librarian, Mr. P. R. Uhler, remained in charge 
of the library until the autumn, when Mr. Nathaniel H. 
Morison, the newly elected Provost, entered upon his 
duties as chief executive officer of the Institute. At this 
time the library had secured more than 22,000 bound 
volumes, and the written catalogue included about 



22 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

100,000 cards. Two years later a more complete organi- 
zation of nearly all departments of the Institute had been 
developed and plans of management adopted which have 
mostly continued to the present time. 

Mr. Peabody placed the Library first in his scheme of 
organization, and recognizing this fact the new Provost 
directed his most earnest attention to the steady increase 
of the already valuable collection of books, until at the 
time of his death in November, 1< V 90, the Library con- 
tained 100,000 volumes. He also superintended the con- 
struction of the catalogue, directed the series of lectures, 
attended to the general interests of the Conservatory of 
Music, and regulated the business of the Institute in con- 
nection with the Committee controlling the several de- 
partments. 

In the month of April, 1875, a new wing of the build- 
ing was begun, and every stage of its construction closely 
studied and watched by the Provost until its completion 
in July, 1878. This new division extended the front to 
a width of nearly 175 feet, and gave place for a Library 
Hall and work rooms capable of accommodating nearly 
500,000 volumes, a reading room with space for seating 
100 persons, two large rooms on the second floor to hold 
statuary, and a basement divided into two fine Lecture 
Halls, with the accompanying smaller rooms and jani- 
tor's apartments. 

After the completion of the building, the library, num- 
bering 40,000 volumes, was removed to the new wing, 
and the old hall was fitted for and occupied by the Gal- 
lery of Paintings. 



The Peabody Institute. 23 

The Institute building is now occupied by a Library 
of costly learned books, numbering about 110,000 vol- 
umes ; a Gallery of Art embracing the Garrett, Rinehart 
and McCoy statuary, and the collection of oil paintings, 
also left to the Institute by Mr. McCoy. A large part 
of the west wing, above the lecture hall, is occupied by 
the Conservatory of Music, where the Director, Mr. Asger 
Hamerik, assisted by six Professors, conducts the studies 
of advanced pupils, who after critical examination have 
been admitted to the privileges of the department of 
music. In the large hall, lectures and symphony con- 
certs, of the highest grade, are given during the winter 
season ; and in the smaller halls musical recitals and 
students' concerts are conducted throughout the scholastic 
term. By a recent decision of the Trustees the Library 
is kept open during all the fall and winter months from 
9 o'clock in the morning until 10.30 at night. 

This "University for the People" is now carrying 
the blessings of the higher education down to the every 
day life of this community, and touching all the outlying 
sections of the neighborhood with the benedictions pro- 
nounced by Mr. Peabody. By its valuable Library 
covering every department of human thought ; by its 
lecture courses whose low price of admission places them 
within the reach of all ; and by the splendid culture 
of its musical instruction and numerous concerts, this 
Institute is doing the benevolent work prescribed by its 
Founder. 



24 



Public Institutions of Baltimore. 



THE ENOCH PRATT FREE LIBRARY. 1 

This Institution was founded by Enoch Pratt, a native 
of North Middleborough, Massachusetts, who first became 
a resident of Baltimore in 183], entering into business 
as a commission merchant. Fifty-one years after this, 
he offered to the Mayor and City Council a proposition 
to establish a Free Circulating Library for the benefit of 
the whole city. His plan was to erect, for its accommo- 
dation, a fire-proof build- 
ing capable of holding 
200,000 volumes, which 
would cost about $250,- 
000, together with four 
branches in different parts 
of the city, and to give in 
addition the sum of eight 
hundred and thirty-three 
thousand, three hundred 
and thirty-three and a 
third dollars, provided 
the city would grant and 
create an annuity of fifty 
thousand dollars per annum forever, payable quarterly 
to the Board of Trustees, for the support and maintenance 
of the Library and its branches. The offer and the con- 
ditions being accepted, a Board of Trustees named by 
Mr. Pratt with powers of self-perpetuation was entrusted 
with the important duty of superintendence. Mr. Pratt, 
in his letters to his Board, states that the books are 

x By Dr. L. H. Steiner. 




The Enoch Pratt Free Library. 



The Enoch Pratt Free Library. 25 

"for all, rich and poor, without distinction of race or 
color, who, when properly accredited, can take out the 
books, if they will handle them carefully and return 
them." 

In November, 1 884, the Board selected as the Librarian, 
Lewis H. Steiner, to whom was entrusted the organization 
and subsequent superintendence of the Library. 

The Central Building is on Mulberry near Cathedral 
street, with a frontage of eighty-two feet and a depth of 
one hundred and forty-two feet. The front is of marble, 
the building being treated in the bold Romanesque style, 
with characteristic semi-circular forms, relief mouldings, 
enriched by carvings and embellishments. The Branch 
Libraries, of which there are five, are located as follows : 
branch No. 1 , corner of Fremont and Pitcher streets ; 
branch No. 2, corner of Hollins and Calhoun streets ; 
branch No. 3, corner of Light and Gittings streets; 
branch No. 4, corner of Canton and O'Donnell streets ; 
and branch No. 5, corner of Broadway and Miller 
street. They are built of brick, one story in height, 
forty by seventy feet, with high, well-lighted, basements. 
Their capacity is about twenty thousand volumes each. 
The six library buildings are supplied with reading rooms 
and stock rooms for the accommodation of books. 

On the first of January, 1891, the Central building 
contained 68,741 volumes, the five branches 37,921 — 
the total being 106,662. The increase during the year 
was 13,320 volumes. 

The circulation for home use during the year 1891, 
was from the six Libraries 444,028, of which 262,920 



26 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

were from the Central building, while 1 29,795 magazines 
and reviews were called for in the different reading rooms. 
The reading room of the Central Library is open to 
visitors and readers from 9 a. m. to 10 p m. each week 
day, and those of the Branches from 2 p. m. to 9 p. m. 
The Library in its different departments employs fifty 
persons, twelve males and thirty eight females. 

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND. 

The University of Maryland, situated at the corner of 
Lombard and Greene streets, was founded in 1807 as a 
medical school. The present building was erected in 1812 
after plans by R. Cary Long, a noted architect of his day, 
upon the model of the Pantheon at Rome. It was the 
fifth medical school in the United States in point of age. 
It had the usual vicissitudes of medical schools, being at 
first without buildings, money, facilities for teaching or a 
library. Later came a long-continued controversy between 
the Regents and Trustees which divided the faculty and 
students, and was only settled by an appeal to the courts. 
Subsequently the Civil War interfered much with its 
prosperity and development. Notwithstanding all of 
these disadvantages the University of Maryland has done 
a most useful work, and has left an abiding impress upon 
the medical education of the country. The founders pur- 
chased with their private means, a library ; they procured 
costly apparatus from Europe ; later they effected a loan 
and erected another building for lecturing purposes and 
for the accommodation of the splendid anatomical and 
pathological collection of over 1,000 specimens which 



The University of Maryland. 27 

they had bought ; early recognizing the need of facilities 
for clinical instruction, they leased ground in the imme- 
diate vicinity of the college, and erected thereon a costly 
hospital (being among the first to do this) ; they 
encouraged classical learning by founding a gold medal 
for Latin theses and in other wavs. Their successors 
introduced hygiene and medical jurisprudence into their 
curriculum (1833); they endeavored to increase the 
opportunities for instruction by voluntarily lengthening 
their course to six months (1840); they early taught 
auscultation and percussion (1841) ; they instituted lect- 
ures on pharmacy (1844); they gave a complete course 
on operative surgery (1845) and pathology (1847); they 
encouraged preparatory medical schools ; they were either 
first or second to enforce dissection (1833, 1848); they 
established compulsory courses in experimental physi- 
ology and microscopy (1854); they were among the first 
to introduce the study of specialties (1866), and first to 
make an independent chair of diseases of women and 
children ; they established a successful dental school 
(1^82), a lying-in-hospital (1887), and a training school 
for nurses (1890). 

In 1812 the Legislature, by a special act, gave author- 
ity to add, Faculties of Divinity, Law and Arts and 
Sciences. Of these additional faculties, that of Law T alone 
remains. This had an uncertain existence for many 
years, but in 1870 it was reorganized and it became an 
important part of the University. It now occupies a 
building of its own adjoining the medical college on 
Lombard street. It has seven professors and about 100 
students. In 1882 a dental school was founded which 



28 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

occupies a building adjacent to the University on Greene 
street. It now has seven professors and gives instruction 
to about 150 students annually. 

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. 1 

FOUNDATION. 

The Johns Hopkins University owes its foundation to 
the liberality of the Baltimore merchant whose name it 
bears. He died on the twenty-fourth of December, 1873, 
nearly eighty years of age, leaving a large fortune, most 
of which he gave in two nearly equal amounts for the 
endowment of a University and a Hospital. He directed 
that when the Hospital was completed, it should become 
a part of the Medical School of the University. Many 
years before his death he began to cherish the idea of 
establishing these two institutions, and the letter of 
instructions signed by him shows the broad and en- 
lightened views which he held with respect to the wel- 
fare of mankind. At the same time his specific bequests 
were made in -very simple terms, and he left to his 
Trustees the decision of all details. 

The University was incorporated under the general 
laws of the State of Maryland before the death of the 
founder, and soon after his death the Trustees held their 
first business meeting, on the 6th of February, 1874. 
The first President of the University, who is still in 
office, was elected in December of that year, and entered 
upon his duties in the following May. The work of 

1 By President D. C. Oilman. 



The Johns Hopkins University. 29 

instruction began in the autumn of 1876, and has 
gradually extended and improved since that time. 

METHODS. 

The University is organized upon the principle that it 
is a body of teachers and scholars, Universitas magistro- 
rum et discipulorum, — a corporation maintained for the 
conservation and advancement of knowledge, in which 
those who have been thoroughly prepared for higher 
studies are encouraged to continue, under competent pro- 
fessors, their intellectual advancement in many branches 
of science and literature. 

In this society are recognized two important grades ; 
the Collegiate students, who are aspirants for the diploma 
of Bachelor of Arts, to which they look forward as a 
certificate that they have completed a liberal course of 
preliminary study, — and the University students, in- 
cluding the few who may be candidates for a higher 
diploma, that of Doctor or Master (a certificate that they 
have made special attainments in certain branches of 
knowledge), and a large number who, without any refer- 
ence to a degree, are simply continuing their studies for 
varying periods. 

Corresponding to the w r ants of these two classes of 
students, there are two methods of instruction — the rule 
of the College which provides discipline, drill, training 
in appointed tasks, for definite periods ; and the rule of 
the University, the note of which is opportunity, freedom, 
encouragement and guidance in more difficult studies, in- 
quiries and pursuits. Thus far but one faculty has been 



30 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

maintained — that of philosophy or the liberal arts — but 
the nucleus of a medical faculty has been formed, and 
some advanced instruction is now given in pathology and 
in the special branches of medicine and surgery, under 
the auspices and in the buildings of the Johns Hopkins 
Hospital. 

STATISTICS. 

The following numerical statements may be of interest : 

The academic staff includes (January, 1892) fifty-seven 
teachers, in addition to a number of students who con- 
duct classes in various departments. The number of 
students enrolled is five hundred and twenty-four, of 
whom two hundred and sixty-two are residents of Mary- 
land, two hundred and fifty are from thirty-four other 
States of the Union, and twelve from six foreign coun- 
tries. Among the students are three hundred and fif- 
teen already graduated, coming from one hundred and 
forty-five colleges and universities ; there are one hundred 
and thirty-eight matriculates (or candidates for the degree 
of Bachelor of Arts) ; and there are seventy-one admitted as 
special students, to pursue courses of study for which 
they seem fitted, without reference to graduation. 

During the year 1890-91 the degree of Bachelor of 
Arts was conferred upon fifty candidates, and twenty- 
eight candidates were promoted to the degree of Doctor 
of Philosophy. 

During the first fifteen years (1876-91), seventeen 
hundred and sixty-seven individuals were enrolled as 
students, of whom seven hundred and seventy are regis- 
tered as from Maryland (including six hundred and 




Plan of Arrangement of the Johns Hopkins University Buildings. 



The Johns Hopkins University. 31 

twenty-four from Baltimore), and nine hundred and 
ninety-seven from fifty-two other States and countries. 
Nine hundred and ninety-four persons entered as graduate 
students, and seven hundred and seventy-three entered as 
undergraduates. Of the undergraduates, one hundred 
and sixty continued as graduate students, many of them 
proceeding to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. It 
thus appears that eleven hundred and fifty-four persons 
have followed graduate studies here in the last fifteen 
years. 

Since degrees were first conferred, in 1878, three 
hundred persons have attained the Baccalaureate degree, 
and two hundred and twelve have been advanced to the 
degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 

BUILDINGS. 

The University Buildings are placed in the heart of 
the city, within sight of Washington Monument, and 
near to a large number of literary and educational estab- 
lishments. They include a central building, in which 
are the offices of administration and the class rooms for 
the ancient languages. Directly west is a building con- 
taining the general Library of the University and a large 
lecture room for Chemistry. Beyond this, to the west, 
stands the Chemical Laboratory, a very convenient and 
well-equipped establishment; and still further to the 
west is the Biological Laboratory, likewise a three-story 
building, in which all the best modern appliances are 
found for the study of the biological sciences. North of 
the main group of buildings stand the Gymnasium (with 



32 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

the accessory bath-rooms and dressing-rooms and a tennis 
court), and Levering Hall, erected for the Young Men's 
Christian Association of the University. 

Still further north is the largest and best of all the 
buildings yet constructed, the Physical Laboratory, in 
which are housed the departments of Physics (including 
Electrical Engineering), Mathematics and Astronomy. 

Several dwelling houses in the neighborhood are also 
used for class-rooms and for the laboratories in Miner- 
alogy and Geology. 

A new building, to be used for the library and for 
class-rooms for the literary departments, is to be erected 
at an early date, on the corner of Monument and Garden 
streets, extending in a southerly direction to Little 
Ross street. 



THE WOMAN'S COLLEGE. 1 

The most distinctive architectural feature of that por- 
tion of Baltimore which has lately been included within 
the corporate limits is a line of massive granite buildings 
on St. Paul Street, flanked on the south by a lofty tower 
of peculiar shape. The tower belongs to the First 
Methodist Episcopal Church and the buildings marshalled 
to the north of it are those of the Woman's College of 
Baltimore. They consist of Goucher Hall, containing 
over forty class-rooms, laboratories and offices for ad- 
ministration, and Bennett Hall, containing the gymna- 
sium, baths and swimming pool. A block to the east, 

1 By President J. F. Goucher. 



The Woman's College. 33 

at the corner of Calvert and Fourth Streets, is the " Col- 
lege Home," a plain but handsome brick building, accom- 
modating sixty-five students. A block to the west, on the 
corner of Charles and Fourth Streets, a second home of 
similar style and capacity has just been begun and will be 
ready for occupancy, it is hoped, by the beginning of 
next year. On the north-east corner of St. Paul and 
Fifth Streets ground has just been broken for another 
building similar in style to Goueher and Bennett Halls. 
This is to be ready for use by September, 1893, and will 
be occupied by the Girl's Latin School — the preparatory 
department of the College. 

The President of the College is Rev. John F. Goucher, 
D. D., to whom the College owes most of what it is. 
He exercises the general direction and control in its 
policy and government, and is ably supported in the 
work of active instruction by a staff of twenty-seven 
professors and instructors. The heads of the various 
departments of study are specialists in the work in- 
trusted to their charge. Professor William H. Shelley 
is Principal of the Latin School. 

The College was incorporated January 26, 1885, and 
was opened for students September 18, 1888. The total 
number of students in both departments is about three 
hundred and fifty, of whom ninety are doing strictly 
collegiate work. Of these ninety only thirty-nine are 
residents of Baltimore and twelve of the rest of Mary- 
land ; ten come from the other Southern States, nineteen 
from the Middle States, six from the Western States east 
of the Mississippi, and four from those west of the Mis- 
sissippi. 
3 



34 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

The Curriculum is abreast of the most advanced ideas 
in education. The elective system receives full recogni- 
tion in fourteen possible groups of studies each of which 
leads to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. This grouping 
of the studies prevents injudicious, arbitrary and capri- 
cious selections, while it enables a student to direct her 
studies towards the Classics, Modern Languages, Mathe- 
matics, Science or History. 

A quotation from the latest Program of the College 
may appropriately complete this notice : 

The Woman's College of Baltimore aims to offer 
young women who seek higher education the best facili- 
ties for its pursuit under conditions equally favorable to 
their physical and their moral welfare. It was founded 
in 1884 by the Baltimore Conference of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church and is conducted under its control. 
Its discipline is such as is approved by that branch of 
the Protestant Church. It is not sectarian in any other 
sense than this. Its instructors are selected for their 
ability without regard to their church relations and it 
welcomes students of every faith to the advantages that 
it provides. No influence is exerted directly or indirectly 
to determine the denominational preferences of students; 
but the New Testament ideal of character is presented 
and every legitimate influence brought to bear in order 
to secure its development. 



Other Educational Institutions. 35 

OTHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 

The College of Physicians and Surgeons. — This institu- 
tion commenced in 1872 with 43 students. During its last 
session it had 472 students and conferred the degree of M. 
D. on 1 09. Its handsome new building recently completed 
is on the corner of Calvert and Saratoga streets. It has 
a faculty of eleven professors and fourteen assistants. It 
exercises exclusive control over the Baltimore City Hos- 
pital whose new building adjoins its own ; and over the 
Maryland Lying-in Asylum. It also has the privileges 
of Bay View Asylum, Hebrew Hospital, Children's 
Nursery and Hospital, and other institutions. 

The Baltimore Medical College, on Howard street above 
Madison, has entire control of the Maryland General 
Hospital on Linden Avenue, with its Eye and Ear and 
Lying-in departments. It has a faculty of eleven pro- 
fessors and nine assistants. Its students last year num- 
bered 124, of whom 52 were graduated. 

Baltimore University consists of a School of Medicine, 
with dental and veterinary departments, and a Law School. 
The first named department, on North Bond street near 
Baltimore Street, has a faculty of twelve professors. 
During last year there were 74 students in attendance, 
of whom 32 were graduated. 

The Woman 7 s Medical College of Baltimore was started 
in 1882. It is situated on Druid Hill Avenue, corner 
Of Hoffman street. The Hospital of the Good Samaritan 
is under its control. Its faculty numbers twelve pro- 
fessors with many lecturers and assistants. Twenty-two 
students were in attendance during its last session. 



36 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

THE JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL. 1 

Johns Hopkins, the founder of the Johns Hopkins 
Hospital, was a merchant of Baltimore, who was born 
in Anne Arundel County, May 19th, 1795. He came to 
Baltimore to reside when a lad of seventeen years, and 
was afterwards, until his death fully identified with the 
business interests of this city. 

During the three years which followed his death, the 
Trustees were busily engaged in procuring plans for the 
Hospital from many experts in hospital construction, 
which were finally adopted April 17th, 1877. Exca- 
vations were begun June 23d, 1877, and the work of 
construction consumed the following twelve years. The 
completed Hospital was formally opened with appro- 
priate ceremonies May 7th, 1889. 

The opposite plate shows the location of the buildings 
upon the grounds and their designs. 

The grounds of the Hospital include four entire 
blocks, containing about fourteen acres, having a frontage 
on Broadway of 709 ft., and extending back 356 ft. 
Elevation at gateway, 94 ft. above mean tide, at base 
of main building, 108 ft., and rising in rear to 115 ft. 

CONSTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS. 

The buildings having a special relation to the educa- 
tional features of the institution — namely, the Amphi- 
theatre, Dispensary and Pathological Laboratory — are 
located on the northeast portion of the grounds near the 

x By Dr. H. M. Hurd. 



WOLFE ST. 




*> ^ 



broa|dv|7ay 



A. — Administration Building. 
H. — Female Pay-Waid. 
C— Male Pay- Ward. 
D. — Male Surgical Ward. 
E.— Female Surgical Ward. 
F.— Male Medical Ward, 
(i.— Female Medical Ward. 
H.— Gynaecological Ward. 
I. — Isolating Ward. 



K.— Kitchen. 

L.— Laundry. 

N. — Nurses' Home. 

O. — Dispensary. 

R. — Pathological Building. 

S.— Stable. 

U. — A m phith eat re. 

X. — Apothecary's Building. 

Y.— Bath-House. 



Plan of Arrangement of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Buildings. 



The Johns Hopkins Hospital. 37 

land owned by the Johns Hopkins University, upon which 
the buildings of the Medical Department are to be placed. 
In addition to the buildings shown on the block plan, the 
original plan of the institution provides for a row of five 
wards on the south side opposite to, and corresponding 
with, the row of buildings on the north side of the lot. 
All the buildings except the gate lodge, the pathological 
laboratory, the laundry and the stable, are connected by 
a covered corridor, the floor of which is at a uniform 
level of 114 feet above mean tide. The top of this 
corridor forms an open terrace walk at a uniform level 
of 124 feet above mean tide. Beneath the covered cor- 
ridor is a passage-way, containing the pipes for heating, 
lighting, water supply, sewage, etc., which is called the 
pipe tunnel, and is really a half-basement passage rather 
than a tunnel. The buildings are constructed of brick, 
with trimmings of Cheat River stone and moulded terra- 
cotta. Those on the main, or west front, are constructed 
of the best quality of pressed brick. The foundations of 
the principal buildings are of a solid concrete base, or 
of broad flags of Port Deposit granite. All foundation 
and interior walls are of hard brick, laid in Cumberland 
cement below the ground level, and covered by a layer 
of heavy slate. Lines of drain tile are laid around the 
foundations, and all* buildings having cellars or half- 
basements have the outer surface of the wall covered 
with overlapping slates. Above the horizontal layers of 
slate, the walls are hollow, with a two-inch air space. 

All pitched roofs are covered with carefully selected 
Peach Bottom slate laid on English asphalt felt, and 
secured with copper nails. The flat portions of the roofs 



38 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

are covered with copper, which is also used for gutters, 
flashings and downspouts. The floors of the principal 
buildings are formed of moulded hollow blocks of hydrau- 
lic lime of Teil, laid between iron beams of suitable size. 
They are fire-proof and are much lighter than those con- 
structed with solid brick arches. The floors of the base- 
ments are of artificial stone laid in large blocks, and under- 
neath all heat coils is placed a heavy coat of asphalt to 
prevent the leakage of ground air through the coil. The 
floors of all wards and rooms for the sick are of edge 
grain Georgia pine l\ inches thick, which was soaked in 
water for six months and then preserved dry for several 
years before it was dressed for use. 

All walls are plastered in three coats, and finished with 
hard troweled sand finish. In the Pathological Labora- 
tory, bath-house and one pay ward, the finish is composed 
of finely-ground soapstone with plaster of Paris. In all 
rooms where wooden beams have been used for the ceil- 
ings, wire netting has been used in place of wooden laths 
to secure a semi-fireproof construction. The stairways 
are of iron with a layer of asphalt in the treads. Win- 
dow-sills are of slate. All woodwork is of ash with plain 
bevelled or rounded mouldings. 

HEATING AND VENTILATION. 

The system of heating is that known as a " hot water 
system," and consists of a network of iron pipes through 
which circulates hot water of comparatively low pressure 
and temperature. The heat is furnished by two sets of 
boilers — the one set comprising four boilers is located 




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The Johns Hopkins Hospital. 39 

under the kitchen at the northern side of the buildings; 
the other, consisting of two boilers of the same size, is 
located under the Nurses' Home at the south extremity 
of the system. 

From these boilers the heated water passes out through 
the main delivery pipes which are of cast iron with an 
inside diameter of 26 inches. From these " mains " 
branches are given off to each building. These branches 
in turn give off smaller branches to supply the coils over 
which the air to be heated passes. From these coils the 
water which has been cooled in heating the air returns to 
the boilers by a second system of pipes exactly analogous 
to that just described, except that it is located on a lower 
level. The circuit is, therefore, a closed one, none of the 
water being drawn off or used at any point. 

To prevent loss of heat the entire system of mains and 
branches is insulated by a non-conducting medium com- 
posed of felt, asbestos and painted canvas. At the terminal 
branches, that is, the coils, this envelope is omitted so 
that the air comes in immediate contact with the surfaces 
of the heated iron pipes. 

The force which sets the water in circulation is the 
difference in weight between the heated water which passes 
out from the boilers and the cooled water which leaves 
the coils on its return to the boilers. The two columns 
of water being of equal height, but of different tempera- 
tures (the difference ordinarily being from 8°-15° F.), 
have, therefore, different specific gravities. 

By means of valves upon the mains, the branches and 
the coils, the velocity of the flow and consequently the 
amount of heat required in any building, or at a given 



40 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

point iu that building, may easily be regulated — indeed, 
by proper adjustment of these valves the amount of heat 
given off by one coil, that is, the amount of heat passing 
into cne register in the ward may be made greater or less 
than that passing in through the neighboring register. 

The entire system contains about 175,000 gallons of 
water and produces an equable agreeable temperature in 
all the buildings to which it is distributed under all 
conditions of cold weather and with the fullest ven- 
tilation. 

The system of ventilation which is inseparable from 
the heating depends for its force, like the circulating 
water, upon the difference in specific gravity between 
equal volumes of air of different temperatures. Under 
each ward are 12 of the coils above referred to. Each 
coil is located in a brick flue, which conducts the air 
upward over the coil and into a register with a clear 
opening of one square foot located in the wall of the 
ward just above the floor and between the beds. At the 
bottom of each of these flues are two openings — one 
admitting air directly from outside — the other admitting 
air from the basement, or ventilating chamber as we pre- 
fer to call it, the whole room being intended for the pur- 
pose and used for nothing else. 

The two openings are provided lest that in windy 
weather the air blowing directly against the outside 
wall-opening may give rise to draughts in the wards ; 
whereas if this outside opening be closed and the air be 
admitted to the ventilating chamber (a basement which 
is all above ground) through windows, its direct force 
will be destroyed and it will be admitted through the 



The Johns Hopkins Hospital. 41 

inside opening of the flues and pass into the wards 
without draughts. 

After circulating in the wards it passes out through 
openings in the floor under each bed. These openings 
are all brought into communication, by means of flues, 
with a large common duct or trunk-flue which passes 
into the lower part of an aspirating chimney about 70 
feet in height in the upper portion of which is located a 
steam coil. The temperature constantly maintained in 
this coil is such that there is at all times a strong 
upward draught in this shaft. 

The wall registers, those delivering fresh air to the 
wards, are so constructed that they can never be shut off. 
The temperature of the air passing in through these 
registers may be regulated by means of a lever, the key 
to which is in the possession of the nurse in charge of the 
ward, so that either the extremes of cold or warni air, or 
air of moderate temperature may be admitted as may be 
desirable, but at no time can the air be prevented from 
passing into the room. 

Another device which exists in the common wards is 
the flushing-opening in the ceiling. In the ceiling of 
each ward are five openings each of 2 sq. ft. area con- 
trolled by a lever in the vestibule of the ward. The 
object of these openings is the liberation of over-heated 
air and experiment has shown that at such times as the 
heat is too great for comfort the temperature in the ward 
can easily be brought to a point of comfort in ten or 
fifteen minutes by opening these ventilators. -Ordinarily 
these openings are kept closed. 

The object aimed at in this system of ventilation and 



42 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

heating has been to supply to each individual occupying 
the ward at least one cubic foot of fresh air per second of 
such a temperature as to give rise at no time to feelings 
of discomfort ; and this end has been gained. 

THE SHEPPARD ASYLUM. 1 

Among the many notable institutions in Baltimore and 
vicinity for the relief of the sick or the care of the help- 
less, the Sheppard Asylum deserves special notice. 

This institution is situated at Sheppard Station on the 
Baltimore and Lehigh R. R., six miles north of the city. 

The buildings are surrounded by an estate of 377 acres 
of rolling land. The grounds of the institution already 
present, owing to the natural resources of the situation, 
the appearance of a well-ordered park, and the further 
ornamentation which is proposed, with additional drives, 
paths, lawns and lakes, will make the place one of the 
most attractive in the country. 

The institution was founded by the late Moses Shep- 
pard of Baltimore, and from the " announcement " 
recently issued by the Trustees, the following is taken : 

" Moses Sheppard organized his own Board of Trustees 
in 1853, had them incorporated by the State of Maryland, 
to which they are held ' to a strict and frequent account- 
ability/ with remedies provided for ' remissness or per- 
verted action/ He held meetings with them for several 
years, and a few months before his death, in February, 
1857, he had John Saurin Norris appointed in his place 
as their President. 

1 By Dr. E. N. Brush. 



The Sheppard Asylum. 43 

" The bequest, by his will, was to the Trustees thus 
created, to whom the estate was giveu untrammeled 
by conditions or restrictions. It then amounted to 
$567,632.40. It is now $666,930.37. The intention of 
the founder was communicated by him, personally, to his 
Trustees, has been transmitted to this date, to the present 
Board, and has been closely followed. But besides this 
traditional knowledge, there are in writing memoranda 
left by him, the principal features of which are as follows : 

" ' My leading purpose is to found an institution to 
carry forward and improve the ameliorated system of 
treatment of the insane irrespective of expense/ and 'that 
the income and not the principal shall be used/ and ' that 
the increased cost of preparation and attendance will 
limit the number of patients, that each patient shall have 
an attendant when it may appear useful — an experimental 
establishment. Let all that is done be for use strictly 
and not for show/ 

" His design w r as for a hospital for the cure of the 
insane, and not an asylum for the care and safe keeping 
of chronic cases. 

" The Asylum buildings are fire-proof, having iron 
stairways, floors of brick arched on iron girders, and slate 
roofs. The two wings — east and west — are alike, are 
separated by a space of 100 feet, are intended one for each 
sex. They are each 360 feet long, each having a south 
wing 100 feet long. In different parts they are of one, 
two and three stories, with attics over all, with basement 
story under all, and subways under the basement. In 
the subways, connected by tunnel with the laundry build- 



44 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

ing (400 feet south), are the steam and water pipes, and 
the radiating heaters. The laundry building contains in 
its basement the steam boilers, hot water fixtures, and 
room for engines, dynamos, forcing fan for fresh air 
through the tunnel, etc. It has a tower 90 feet high, on 
which are water tanks of 18,000 gallons capacity, into 
which will be pumped very pure water from several large 
springs on the property, concentrated into a reservoir in 
the woods 1,600 feet south of the building. These tanks 
will distribute water to the highest parts of the buildings. 
Two large cemented cisterns underground — of 60,000 
gallons each — collect rain water from the slate roofs, to be 
used in the boilers and for laundry purposes." 

The plans for the buildings were prepared by the well- 
known architect Mr. Calvert Vaux, of New York, and, 
as carried out, present a building which in many respects 
is in advance of any similar institution in the United 
States. 

The parlors, corridors and bed-rooms are large and well 
lighted, and each division is supplied with one or more 
large sun-rooms, made bright and cheerful by flowers 
and plants, and having a pleasant and extensive outlook. 

The lighting is by electricity — the Edison system — and 
the lights have been so arranged that every room occupied 
by patients is well illuminated. 

The furnishing has been done with a view of increasing, 
as far as possible, the cheerful and home-like appearance 
of the institution, and of adding to the comfort and pleasure 
of the inmates. 

The sanitary arrangements have been carefully con- 
sidered and all of the interior plumbing has been done 



Water Supply. 45 

under the immediate supervision of the medical super- 
intendent. 

Persons even not immediately interested in the care of 
the insane or in general hospital construction and man- 
agement will be repaid by a visit to the Sheppard Asy- 
lum, which affords an excellent example of thoroughness 
of construction both in exterior and interior detail, and 
of the most careful adaptation of constructive means to 
a special end. 

The Trustees of the Asylum are George A. Pope, 
President ; Gerard T. Hopkins, J. Olney Norris, Charles 
C. Homer, E. Glenn Perine, Charles H. Riley, M. D., 
George M. Lamb. The medical service and general ad- 
ministration are under the control of the Physician-in- 
Chief and Superintendent, Dr. Edward N. Brush. 

The institution has been open for patients since Decem- 
ber last. 

WATER SUPPLY. 

The water supply of Baltimore, as is well known, is 
one of the largest and in many respects one of the finest 
in the country. The water is of the purest quality and 
calculated to be sufficient for a population of over a million. 

The supply is derived from the Gunpowder river and 
Jones' Falls. There are six reservoirs in the system and 
over 200 miles of pipes run beneath the streets of the city, 
supplying about 50,000 houses, 1,000 hydrants, and 
15,000 special needs, baths, etc. 

The following extract from the Baltimore American, 
of May 18th, 1881, will show the details and cost of con- 
struction of the water works. It may be well to add that 



46 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

the figures and matter contained in the article were care- 
fully prepared by the chief engineer of the department 
and his assistant. 



LAKES ON JONES' FALLS AND THE GUNPOWDER EIVER. 

In addition to the Gunpowder supply, Baltimore also 
receives water from the Jones' Falls supply, which embraces 
Lake Roland, 225 feet above tide, one and a half miles 
long, with an average width of one-eighth of a mile and 
a water surface of 116 acres; a conduit four miles long; 
Hampden Reservoir, 217 feet above tide and eight acres 
water surface; Druid Lake, in Druid Hill Park, 217 
feet above tide, depth twenty to sixty-five feet, with 
fifty-three acres of water surface, surrounded by a drive 
of one and a half miles; High Service Reservoir, 350 
feet above tide, with a water surface of four acres; 
Mount Royal Reservoir, 150 feet above tide, with a 
water surface of five acres. 

Loch Raven, the lake on the Gunpowder river, 
was begun December 22d, 1875, and completed No- 
vember, 1880. The lake is four and three-fourths 
miles in length ; the elevation of water surface at high- 
water mark is one hundred and seventy feet above 
tide. The width of the lake is from one hundred 
feet to eight hundred feet ; it covers an area of water 
surface of 252 acres, and is from four to twenty feet in 
depth. The capacity of the lake is 510,000,000 gallons, 
and it is surrounded by a roadway from thirty feet to 
fifty feet in width ; the elevation of the surface of this 
roadway is one hundred and eighty feet above tide. 



Water Supply. 47 

Nine bridges span the streams emptying into the lake, 
and all, with one exception, are of marble. 

Concrete and masonry, 91.85 perches laid at $3 per 
perch ; rubble masonry, 3,980.89 perches, at $4 per perch ; 
rough hammered masonry, 436.46 perches, at $4.75 per 
perch. Total number of cubic yards of earth excavated, 
688,207, at 16 cents per cubic yard; loose rock, 99,777.41 
cubic yards, at 38 cents ; solid rock, 77,973 cubic yards, 
at 60 cents. 

LOCH RAVEN DAM AND GATE HOUSE. 

The dam was commenced December 3d, 1875, and 
completed October 6, 1881. It is built of rubble and 
cut stone, and the masonry cost $255,950.57. The width 
of the overfall is 300 feet, number of stones in face of 
the dam 2,530, the dimensions of each being about 25 
cubic feet. The height of the dam from foundation to 
crest line is 29 feet, the thickness of the foundation is 62 
feet, depth of the foundation below original surface is 
13 feet. The north wing wall of the dam is 205 feet in 
length; length of north retaining wall 197.3 feet, south 
retaining wall 200 feet. 

The flow of water at the dam is controlled by a gate- 
house, the chambers of which are built of white marble. 
The gate-house superstructure is a parallelogram in form. 

The width of the gate-house superstructure is 45J feet, 
length 70 ieet, thickness of walls 2 feet 6 inches, cost of 
constructing walls of superstructure $7,890. Within the 
gate-house are located seventeen gates, with openings 3 by 
4 feet, costing $398 per gate. 



48 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

GRADUATION AND MASONKY. 

Earth excavations, 117,175 cubic yards, at 18 cents; 
loose rock, 37,192 cubic yards, at 40 cents; solid rock, 
19,816 cubic yards, at 75 cents; concrete masonry, 463.44 
perches, average price $2.25 per perch ; rubble masonry, 
13,219.20 perches, at $5.57; rock ashlar masonry, 
4,549.62 perches, average price $16.53; dressed ashlar, 
1,706.39 perches, at $24.65; rock hammered masonry, 
437.35 perches, at $6. 

THE MAIN TUNNEL. 

The tunnel connecting Loch Raven with Lake Monte- 
bello was commenced December 15, 1875, and completed 
November, 1880. Its length from the portal in Loch 
Raven gate-house to portal in Montebello gate-house is 
36,443 feet, or 517 feet less than seven miles. It is a 
circular bore, with an internal diameter of twelve feet, 
and a fall of one foot to the mile. For 24,752 feet, or 
nearly four and a half miles, its course is through hard 
rock, which required no arching, and where the drifts 
had to be pushed by hand-drilling and dynamite blasting. 
The remaining 11,691 feet, or about one hundred feet 
more than two miles, is arched with bricks. The cost of 
graduation was $1,382,598.93 ; arching, cleaning up 
tunnel, filling shafts, $397,011.32. The total cost of the 
main tunnel was $1,779,610.24. The capacity of dis- 
charge of the tunnel per twenty- four hours is 170,000,000 
gallons. The depth of the bottom grade below the surface 
is from 36 feet to 354 feet. In the construction of the 



Water Supply. 49 

tunnel fifteen shafts were sunk, and they were located at 
an average distance of 2,337 feet apart on center line of 
tunnel and parallel to its axis. The longest drive between 
shafts was 3,075 feet, and the minimum 1,890 feet. The 
maximum depth of shafting sunk in hard rock per 
month was 37.5 feet; minimum depth in hard rock 
per month, 15.5 feet; maximum depth in soft rock 
per month, 44 feet; minimum, 38 feet. Number of 
lineal feet of shafting, 2.354 feet ; dimension of shafts 
in rock excavation, from 17 feet by 8 feet to 20 feet 
by 8 feet. Greatest depth of shaft 294.91 feet, The 
total number of cubic yards of shafting in main tun- 
nel was 19,256; average price paid per cubic yard of 
shafting, $10.03. 

Drifting. — In heading the maximum distance driven 
in hard rock was 114 feet per month; minimum, 10 feet. 
Maximum distance driven in soft rock per month 170 
feet; minimum, 12 feet. In bottom, maximum dis- 
tance driven in soft rock per month, 300 feet; minimum, 
10 feet. Maximum distance driven in hard rock per 
month, 112 feet ; minimum, 12 feet. Maximum distance 
driven in hard rock in full area of tunnel per month, 80 
feet; minimum, 10 feet. Total number of cubic yards 
of drifting on main tunnel, 176,579 ; average price paid 
per cubic yard for drifting, $6.62. 

Cost of brick work per perch, done by day's labor, $15 ; 
number of perches of brick work per lineal foot in arch 
and invert, exclusive of arching over the shafts, 2.07 ; 
cost of brick work per lineal foot in arch and invert done 
by day's labor, $31.05. 
4 



50 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

LAKE MONTEBELLO. 

Lake Montebello was commenced December 1, 1875, 
and completed December, 1880. It is the receiving 
reservoir of the Gunpowder water supply. The lake is 
irregular in shape, is 163 feet above mean tide, with a 
water surface of 59 acres, a depth of water of 30 feet, 
and a drive of an average width of 70 feet, and 7,265 
feet long. The capacity of the lake is 496,378,144 gal- 
lons. There are 29 gates in gate houses, size of each 
three by four feet, costing $398 each. The drain tunnel 
is 3,432 feet in length, and required about a year and a 
half to construct. It is circular in form, with an in- 
ternal diameter of nine feet; 2,873 feet of the tunnel is 
arched with brick, and 512 feet is in solid rock. The 
depth of the tunnel below the surface is 28 to 62 feet ; 
fall of tunnel per 100 feet .085 feet ; fall of tunnel from 
west to east portal 29.6 feet ; number of shafts, including 
air shaft, 3 ; average depth of shafts below the surface, 43 
feet ; perches per lineal foot of brick work in arch and 
invert, done by contract, 1.26; cost of brick work per 
lineal foot by contract and exclusive of arching over 
shafts, $13.23; number of perches of brick work done 
by contract, 3,721, at $10.50 per perch. Total cost of 
drain tunnel, $97,102.96. 

THE CONDUITS. 

The supply of water for the city, after it leaves the gate- 
house at Lake Montebello is conveyed in a conduit, built 
partly in tunnel and partly in open cut, a distance of 



Water Supply. 51 

5,410 feet, to the gate-house at Lake Clifton. The conduit 
was commenced August, 1876, and completed August, 
1878. It is circular and arched with brick, and has an 
internal diameter of twelve feet. Only one shaft was 
sunk, at a depth of 33.5 feet below the surface. The depth 
of the conduit below the surface is from 29 feet to 110 
feet. The cost of drifting, including packing over arch, 
by contract was $4.50 per cubic yard ; cost of brick work 
per perch, done by day's work in open cut of tunnel, $9.58 ; 
in tunnel, $12.75; cost of brick work per lineal foot in 
open cut, $25.48 ; in tunnel, $37.74 ; perches of, in arch 
and invert, 2.96 ; perches in open cut, 2.66. 

There is also an elliptical conduit, constructed during 
October, November and December of 1877, which is 198.5 
feet in length, with a long axis of 18 feet, and short axis 
of 12 feet. Approach to conduit 51.5 feet in length. 
Discharge conduit, 1,083 feet in length, with an internal 
diameter of 12 feet, constructed partly in excavation and 
partly in embankment. Earth excavation, 719,318 cubic 
yards, at 21 cents per cubic yard; loose rock, 156,405 
cubic yards, at 24 cents; puddling, 65,599 cubic yards, 
at 15 cents; concrete masonry, 98 perches, at $2.75; 
rubble, 16.95 perches, at $5.00. Gate-house superstruc- 
ture is a hexagon in form. Length of each side, 41 feet; 
thickness of walls, 2 J feet; cost of building walls of 
superstructure, $14,923.75. 

LAKE CLIFTON. 

This lake was constructed in 1884 as a storage reservoir, 
and is located just beyond the old city limits, about one 



52 Public Institutions of Baltimore. 

mile south of Montebello, from which it receives its water 
through a twelve foot conduit. Six distributing mains, 
each forty inches in diameter, bring the water to the 
distributing mains in the city. 

Ground was broken for the permanent water supply 
on December 3, 1875, by Civil Engineer Robert K. 
Martin. The two systems of Jones' Falls and Gun- 
powder river are capable of furnishing daily a supply of 
about 165,000,000 gallons of water. To this must be 
added the sum total of the reservoirs and aqueducts, as 
follows : 

Jones' Falls. — Lake Roland, 400,000,000; conduit 
(daily), 3,500,000; Hampden reservoir, 46,000,000; 
Druid Lake, 429,000,000 ; High Service reservoir, 27,- 
000,000 ; Mount Royal, 30,000,000 ; total 935,500,000. 

Gunpowder. — Loch Raven, 1,500,000,000; conduit 
(daily), 30,000,000; Montebello, 500,000,000; Clifton, 
265,000,000 ; total, 2,170,000,000. Grand total, 3,105,- 
500,000 gallons. 

The cost of the Gunpowder supply, exclusive of Lake 
Clifton, for which $500,000 in bonds have been issued, 
was about $4,500,000, and the total cost of the two sys- 
tems about $10,000,000. 



BALTIMORE INDUSTRIES WHICH MANU- 
FACTURE MINERAL PRODUCTS. 



It has seemed proper to include in this Guide some 
account of those industries in Baltimore which employ 
the various mineral products occurring near the city as 
their raw material. To this list has also been added a brief 
notice of the more important plants which extensively 
manufacture metal. 

The following account of the mineral production of 
Maryland in 1889 has been compiled from the still un- 
published returns of the eleventh U. S. Census, by Dr. 
David T. Day, Chief of the Division of Mining Statis- 
tics in the U. S. Geological Survey. It will form an 
interesting introduction to the notices of Baltimore's 
industries, as well as a valuable addition to what is said 
on the subject of economic minerals under the head of 
Geology. 

MINEKAL PRODUCTS OF MARYLAND IN 1889. 

Substances. Quantity. Value. 

Gold (troy ounces) 501 $ 10,369 

Bituminous coal (short tons) 2,939,715 2,517,474 

Iron ores (long tons) * 29,380 68,240 

£ Including a small product from Delaware. 

53 



54 Baltimore Industries, 

Substances. Quantity. Value. 

Mineral waters (gallons sold) 74,160 $ 12,057 

Granitic rocks (cubic feet) 3,371,032 447,489 

Marble (cubic feet) 333,305 139,816 

Slate 110,008 

Sandstone (cubic feet) 508,325 10,605 

Limestone 164,860 

Potters' clay (short tons) 13,870 52,920 

Infusorial earth (short tons) 3,050 10,700 

Soapstone (short tons) 432 4,321 

Ochre (short tons) 616 12,000 

Flint (short tons) 8,632 46,828 

Brick (number) 125,000,000 1,000,000 

Unspecified 550,000 



Total $5,157,687 

This total places Maryland 26th among the States. 

Coal. — Coal mining is limited to the western extremity 
of the State in Garrett and Allegany comities. The main 
field, called Cumberland or George's creek, is about 4 
miles wide along the Baltimore and Ohio railroad where 
it is cut by the Savage river and the Northern branch 
of the Potomac. It extends thence into Pennsylvania, 
decreasing in breadth until it dies out. This field, so 
limited in extent, is nevertheless one of the most inpor- 
tant of the country, deriving this rank from the great 
thickness of its seams and the purity of the fuel. The 
thickness of its beds is indicated by the name "Big" 
or " 14-foot Vein" given to the principal seam, which 
usually yields 10 feet of mined coal. Mining was in 
progress in 1842 and reached an annual output of a 
million tons in 1866; in 1888 over three million tons 
were produced and in 1890 the product was 2,998,047 



Mineral Products of Maryland. 55 

tons. The enormous total of 64,797,273 tons has been 
rained altogether. The facilities for marketing the coal 
have been an important feature in the great development 
of the field. The routes are as follows : The Baltimore 
and Ohio railroad to Baltimore; the Chesapeake and 
Ohio canal to Georgetown, D. C. ; the Pennsylvania 
railroad ; the George's Creek and Cumberland railroad ; 
and the West Virginia Central and Pittsburgh railroad. 

In composition the coal averages about 75 per cent, of 
fixed carbon, 15 per cent, of volatile matter and about 10 
per cent, of ash, thus placing it between semi-anthracite 
coal and the bituminous coal of western Pennsylvania. 
The volatile matter is sufficient for it to burn with a 
long flame but not great enough to give trouble from soot. 
Hence it has come to be the standard coal for use in 
steam boilers. 

Iron ores. — The carbonate ores found in Cecil, Har- 
ford, Baltimore, Howard, Anne Arundel and Prince 
George's counties have yielded a very considerable pro- 
duct from many small mines, usually open cuts. At 
present the product is small, but still enough to supply 
several furnaces, especially that at Muirkirk from which 
a well-known brand of foundry iron is made. In com- 
position the ores range from 40 to 46 per cent, of iron 
and 0.06 to 0.3 per cent, of phosphorus. In 1880 the 
iron ore product of Maryland was 124,667 long tons, 
while in 1889 the product of Delaware and Maryland 
together was 29,380 long tons. 

Gold. — The crystalline rocks west of Washington are 
traversed by many bands of gold-bearing quartz, similar 
to those worked in Virginia and North Carolina. These 



56 Baltimore Industries. 

veins were carefully described by Mr. S. F. Emmons at 
the Washington meeting (1890) of the American Insti- 
tute of Mining Engineers. The occurrence was known 
many years ago. Since 1 885 considerable development 
work has been done on them in Montgomery county. 
Sixteen or more claims have been opened. Five of 
them are equipped with mining machinery and were all 
worked to some extent in 1890. In 1889 a product of 
501 ounces, worth $10,369, and in 1890, 817 ounces, 
worth $16,885 was incidental to the development work. 
The "Alton" mine, Henry Watson, manager, is owned 
in Chicago and is being fitted out with a 20-stamp mill ; 
the " Eagle " (operations suspended for the present) has 
a 10-stamp mill ; the " Harrison," Dr. Walter Kempster, 
manager, has a 10-stamp mill ; the " Irma," Mr. W. T. 
S. Kirk, manager, has a 10-stamp mill; the "Kirk" 
Mining and Milling Company has a Wiswell mill with 
Bumping tables and a concentrator. It is owned in 
Chicago. The outlook for the camp seems to be fair. It 
is reached by the Great Falls stage from Washington. 

Granite and Gneiss. — Twenty-two quarries in Balti- 
more, Cecil, and Howard counties were operated in 1889, 
producing an output valued at $447,489. Of this amount, 
Baltimore county yielded stone valued at $223,070, 
Cecil $219,863, and a small amount from Howard 
county. The granite quarried at Port Deposit has won 
a wide reputation for the satisfactory stone produced. 
Throughout the mass of this granite, as it occurs in the 
quarry, seams occur at intervals from about one-half inch 
to a number of feet apart, and while they are discernible 
only by an experienced eye, they are very valuable in the 



Mineral Products of Maryland. 57 

operations of quarrying and can be opened readily by 
means of wedges. They frequently reveal perfectly 
level surfaces ready at once for use in building without 
the intervention of the stone cutter. The expense of 
preparing the rock for use in the wall is accordingly 
reduced. The stone is very hard, takes a beautiful 
polish, retains its color and can be gotten out in immense 
blocks — larger indeed than is advisable under ordinary 
circumstances of handling. It was used in the construc- 
tion of the piers of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad 
bridge across the Susquehanna river near Perryville and 
has given entire satisfaction in this work. 

Sandstone. — In 1889 sandstone was produced in Alle- 
gany and Frederick counties in small amounts, the total 
product of the State being valued at only $10,605. The 
Potomac Red Sandstone Company is operating sandstone 
quarries on the Potomac river about twenty miles above 
Washington in Montgomery county. This stone has 
been quarried since 1884, but for a period of nine years 
previous to that date there was no production. The 
stone was originally known as the Seneca red sandstone. 
It has been used in quite a large number of buildings in 
Washington city, notably the Smithsonian Institution. 

Limestone. — Ordinary limestone from thirty quarries 
was produced in 1889 to an amount valued at $164,860. 
The productive counties were the following: Baltimore, 
$102,350; Frederick, $30,296; Washington, $15,184; 
and much smaller amounts from Carroll, Allegany and 
Howard counties. The great bulk of the product was 
used in the production of lime, which was valued at 
$148,432. The remainder was used for building and 



58 Baltimore Industries. 

street work and to some extent as a flux and in bridge 
and railroad work. 

Slate. — The slate product of Maryland comes from what 
is known as the Peach Bottom-Delta region, in the 
northern part of Harford county. This region includes 
four quarries in York county, Pennsylvania, and five in 
Harford county, Maryland. The product of the Mary- 
land quarries in 1889 was valued at $110,008. One of 
the chief difficulties met with in quarrying the soft slate 
of Pennsylvania is the occurrence of so-called "ribbons." 
These are composed of foreign material and are so hard 
as to interfere not a little with the ready and economical 
quarrying of slate. They are entirely wanting in the 
Peach Bottom-Delta slate, and this makes a great differ- 
ence in the ease of quarrying, in favor of the product of 
Maryland. 

Marble. — The production of marble proper is limited 
to Baltimore county at a number of points on the 
Northern Central railroad. The total value of the out- 
put in 1889 was $119,675. 

Serpentine. — In Harford county green serpentine is 
quarried at Broad Creek, a single locality. This stone 
is aji exceedingly valuable one for purposes of interior 
decoration and furniture tops. The quarry was opened 
in 1880 and has been in operation ever since. 

MANUFACTURERS OF MINERAL PRODUCTS. 

Maryland Steel Company. — The works of the Maryland 
Steel Company, located at Sparrow's Point, on the north 
bank of the Patapsco, about nine miles from Baltimore, 



Manufacturers of Mineral Products. 59 

comprise four large blast furnaces, a Bessemer plant and 
rail mill, a complete steel ship building plant with machine, 
boiler and pattern shops and iron foundry adequate to 
the maintenance of the metallurgical plant, and for the 
construction of engines and boilers required for the ships 
built at the Marine Department. In addition to the 
manufacturing plant there are the necessary wharves for 
ore and other materials arriving by water, and for the 
shipping of the products of the works. 

The Baltimore & Sparrow's Point railroad, by its con- 
nections with .the principal trunk lines, gives excellent 
facilities for shipment by land. 

The blast furnaces and the steel plant have been 
arranged with special reference to the use of hot metal 
direct from the blast furnaces, and to roll rails direct from 
the ingots. The Bessemer plant has a capacity of 2,000 
tons product per day. 

Besides these mills there will be constructed in the 
future a large open hearth furnace plant, and plate and 
shape mills for. turning out all kinds of material required 
in the construction of ships, bridges and buildings. 

The shipyard commenced operations in February, 1891, 
and has completed one large steel tug, the " Pennwood," 
which is now in active service ; another is rapidly ap- 
proaching completion. There are also in the course of 
construction a side-wheel steamer 210 feet long for the 
Weems' Line, and a large propeller steamboat 305 feet 
long for the Old Bay line, for use in the regular passenger 
and freight service between Baltimore and Norfolk. 

Sparrow's Point has at present a resident population of 
about 3,500. The dwelling houses, which were built by 



60 Baltimore Industries. 

the Steel Company, are supplied with water from artesian 
wells, have underground sewerage, and good sanitary 
regulations. The streets and mills are lighted by elec- 
tricity. There are churches and schools for white and 
colored residents, and, among other attractions provided 
by the Company for its employees, is the beautiful river- 
side resort known as Pennwood Park. 

Baltimore Chrome Works. — The chrome ore contained 
in the serpentine deposits of Maryland and Southeastern 
Pennsylvania were known early in the century. Those 
of Harford County, and shortly after those of Baltimore 
County, Maryland, were mined by Mr. Isaac Tyson, Jr., 
as early as 1828. Since that time both the city of Balti- 
more and the Tyson family have maintained their prestige 
as producers of chrome ore and its manufactured products. 
From 1828 to 1845 Mr. Tyson shipped his ore to Glas- 
gow, Scotland, but in the latter year he established his 
own works in Baltimore. The ore is now obtained from 
Asia Minor, the Ural Mountains, California, and also, to 
a small extent, from this neighborhood. The works of 
the Company are situated on Block street, Baltimore, and 
at Sea Wall, on the south side of the Patapsco river. 
They produce the chromates of potash and soda as well as 
prussiate of potash. 

Copper Smelting and Rolling Works. — Occupying a posi- 
tion of prominence among the metal industries of Baltimore 
is that carried on by the Baltimore Copper Smelting and 
Rolling Company. For many years Baltimore has been 
a copper manufacturing centre, and as early as 1815 a 
copper rolling mill, the direct ancestor of the present 
company, was started upon the Gunpowder River by 



Manufacturers of Mineral Products. 61 

Levi Hollingsworth. In 1845 a copper smelting works 
was started at Canton and shortly after another at Locust 
Point. These companies have all been succeeded by the 
present Baltimore Copper Smelting and Rolling Com- 
pany, which was organized in 1886 under an amended 
charter of the old Gunpowder Copper Company. The 
Browns, McKims, Garretts, Johns Hopkins and other 
wealthy and prominent citizens have at times been largely 
interested in these works. 

The operations of the Baltimore Copper Smelting and 
Rolling Company are confined to its Smelting Works at 
Canton, although its managers and principal owners are 
largely engaged in mining operations in Arizona and 
Montana. The Old Dominion Copper Company, con- 
trolled and managed by these parties, has extensive 
mines and works in the Penal Mountains at Globe, Ari- 
zona. These mines and works have been steady pro- 
ducers of a very superior grade of copper. During the 
past year an extensive new smelting plant has been erec- 
ted at Globe, combining all the modern appliances with 
the most approved methods. The output of these mines 
is mostly sold abroad without being refined at Baltimore, 
and commands always a ready market. These mines and 
works give constant employment to several hundred men 
and are managed entirely from Baltimore. 

The principal business of the works at Canton is the 
refining of the Anaconda Matte destined for consumption 
in this country. This is brought direct from the smelter 
in Anaconda to the wharf of this company — 2,500 miles 
by rail — in bulk, without transfer, in the form of Matte 
of 60 per cent, copper, and is here treated in reverber- 



62 Baltimore Industries. 

atory furnaces, converted into refined ingot copper, and 
sold for use in every State in the Union. It goes into 
all forms of brass and bronze castings. In 1891, over 
32,000,000 pounds of this refined copper were here turned 
out, which is known the world over as the "Baltimore 
Brand." Besides the pure copper, a large quantity of 
blue vitriol is produced by the extensive and complete 
Sulphate of Copper Department. Sulphuric acid, for 
use in this blue vitriol, is also made on the premises. 

The Rolling Mill is kept in constant operation, mostly 
on its specialty, the lighter grades of thin sheets, and the 
polished surface sheets which have grown in use within a 
few years for architectural and domestic purposes. 

Associated, and nearly connected by trauiway, is the 
Baltimore Electric Refining Company, the most exten- 
sive plant of the kind in this country, where the copper 
product is treated by electrolysis, purifying it and sepa- 
rating its contained precious metals. The copper thus 
improved is distributed to rolling mills for sheets, and 
to wire mills for wire. These are employed for all the 
varied electrical uses, being in demand for their greater 
conductivity of the electric current. 

For all these products the company posesses excellent 
facilities for distribution — by water at its wharves to all 
the coast centers, and by the numerous steamship lines 
to European ports ; by rail, over all the roads centering 
at Baltimore. 

The President of the Baltimore Copper Smelting and 
Rolling Company, is also the Vice-President of the Ana- 
conda Mining Company. This concern is the largest 
copper producing concern in the world, and its mines at 



Manufacturers of Mineral Products. 63 

Butte and its immense reduction works at Anaconda, 
upou which over seven millions of dollars have been ex- 
pended, giving employment to over three thousand men, 
ships its entire product to Baltimore either for treatment 
at Canton or shipment abroad. 

Sulphuric Acid Works. — One of the youngest of Balti- 
more's industries which depends on the manufacture of an 
useful product from an ore, is the derivation of sulphuric 
acid from iron pyrites. The Monumental Chemical 
Works were constructed at Sea Wall, south of Baltimore, 
in 1881, for the manufacture of sulphuric acid from 
Sicilian sulphur. They did not, however, prove success- 
ful and were closed before 1888. In that year this 
plant was purchased by the Sulphur Mines Company of 
Virginia (Wm. G. Crenshaw, President), and have since 
been successfully operated for the burning of iron pyrites. 

This company was organized in 1882 and work the 
pyrite vein near Tollersville (on the C. and O. R. R., 
56 miles from Richmond), Louisa Co., Va. This vein 
is from 15 to 80 feet wide and in it have been sunk 
three shafts to a depth of 300 feet. The product in 
1891 was 46,000 tons of ore, and the estimated product 
for this year is 80,000 tons. The pyrite is superficially 
oxidized to limonite which was formerly mined. It con- 
tains a small per cent, of copper pyrites. 

The Monumental Chemical Company uses only about 
one-sixth of the product of its mines. It has one Spence 
and one Johnson automatic furnace, and produces about 
9,000 tons of chamber acid annually. 

The purity of the ore and its freedom from arsenic 
renders it readily marketable. Ten years ago there was 



64 Baltimore Industries. 

not a furnace where pyrite could be burned in the United 
States. Now, however, especially since the increase in 
the price of native sulphur, it is burned to sulphuric 
acid in Boston, New York, Cleveland, Philadelphia, 
Baltimore, Richmond, Charleston, Savannah and other 
points. The consumption and the production of this 
ore are rapidly increasing in this country. Some of it 
is still brought from Europe, but the native deposits 
should be able to supply our demand. 

The Baltimore Shot Tower. — This is situated at the corner 
of Front and Fayette streets, and has been a landmark in 
Baltimore for over 50 years. The foundation stone was 
laid on the 4th of July, 1828, by Charles Carroll of 
Carrollton, who on the same day laid the foundation stone 
of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. It was built on the 
site of the first Baptist meeting house erected in the city. 
The height is 246 feet, base 40 feet in diameter, top 20 
feet. The walls are 4J feet thick at the ground, tapering 
to 18 inches at the summit. The structure was built from 
scaffolding on the inside, and about 1,100,100 bricks were 
used in its construction. Several years ago the interior 
woodwork of the tower was destroyed by fire, so that, 
although a fine view is to be had from its top, it is not 
open to the public. It has not been in operation for 
several years past. 

Brick and Tile. — The superior quality of the clays 
occurring near Baltimore early gave the city an enviable 
reputation as a producer of various kinds of brick. 

As early as 1812 Col. John Berry commenced the 
manufacture of fire brick and cement, which has been 
successfully carried on ever since. The present proprie- 



Manufacturers of Mineral Products. 65 

tors of this firm, Messrs. Goldsborough, Bull & Co. (re- 
cent successors to J. S. & G. R. Berry), produce all grades 
and sorts of fire-proof brick and cement at their works, 
corner of Hamburg and Warner streets. Their capacity 
is 26,000 bricks daily, and they employ about fifty hands. 

The firm of Burns, Russell & Co. commenced the manu- 
facture of brick in Baltimore in 1818, and still continue 
it. Their product comprises brick of all grades, but the 
fine pressed brick, for which the Baltimore clay is par- 
ticularly well adapted, forms their specialty. Their 
capacity is 15,000,000 brick yearly, giving employment 
to 250 to 300 men. This pressed brick was used in the 
construction of the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Univer- 
sity buildings. It is also largely used in New York and 
other cities, and is sent abroad. This firm has recently 
commenced the manufacture of clay roofing tiles and 
vitrified paving brick. Office, No. 535 Columbia avenue. 

The firm of Pitcher and Creager commenced the manu- 
facture of bricks in 1859. Their works are on the Wash- 
ington Road, cover fifteen acres, in addition to which they 
own thirty acres of fire clay. From this they obtain 
their raw material, and incidentally in its working pro- 
duce considerable carbonate iron ore. Their capacity is 
115,000 brick daily, employing 175 men. They also 
produce terra-cotta work and roofing tile. They are now 
supplying the brick for the Belt Line railroad tunnel. 

The clays which give the Baltimore brick its good 
reputation belong in part to the Mesozoic formations 
(Potomac), and in part to the recent Pleistocene beds (Co- 
lumbia), which overlie the floor of crystalline rocks in the 
southern and eastern portions of the city. They are de- 
5 



66 Baltimore Industries. 

scribed by Tyson, the former state geologist of Maryland, 
who divides them into three classes. 1 The oldest are 
the white, gray and red clays, with some beds of sand and 
gravel, which immediately overlie the crystalline rocks. 
They are suited for the manufacture of fire-brick and 
coarse china. 

The next class of clays, overlying the first, are the so- 
called " iron ore clays," which carry the nodular iron car- 
bonate. These are free from sand or gravel, very tough and 
plastic, and of a lead-grey color. They, however, contain 
so much iron that they always burn red and are therefore 
only suited for the production of brick and red ware. 

The third class of clays are very much younger than 
the other two. They occur in small detached areas 
among and upon the others. They usually burn red and 
are used for making brick, tile and coarse pottery. 

Pottery. 2 — Some of the Baltimore clays, as above stated, 
are sufficiently fine and free from iron to be suited for 
the manufacture of the coarser grades of stoneware and 
pottery. The city, however, produces much finer grades 
of china and porcelain than could be made of the 
materials found in her immediate vicinity. 

The three requisites for porcelain manufacture are flint 
(vein quartz) feldspar and a fine clay. All of these 
occur in excellent quality within the limits of Maryland 
and the adjoining portions of Pennsylvania and Dela- 
ware. Flint is largely quarried in Harford, Carroll and 

1 Second Keport of Philip T. Tyson, State Agricultural Chemist. 
1862, p. 75. 

2 Information furnished by Mr. David F. Haynes of the Chesapeake 
Pottery. 



Manufacturers of Mineral Products. 67 

Howard counties; a useful soda feldspar is obtained near 
Rising Sun, Cecil Co., and the best potash feldspar from 
Brandy wine Summit, Delaware Co., Pa. These sub- 
stances are necessary for a glaze and to give transparency 
to the ware. The porcelain clays are of two kinds, china 
and ball clay. The former is a decomposed feldspar 
(kaolin), not very plastic, but yielding a fine white color. 
The ball clay is more plastic, but not so white. Almost 
all the materials used in the Baltimore potteries are 
derived from the crystalline rocks within a radius of 
fifteen miles from the point of intersection of Maryland, 
Delaware and Pennsylvania. A few of the finer china 
clays come from Cornwall, England. The Maryland 
coal is also unsurpassed for firing the pottery kilns. 

There are in Baltimore five potteries, with twenty or 
more large kilns, employing about 750 men and women 
in making and decorating their wares. The Maryland 
Pottery, at the corner of Fawn and President streets, 
manufacture chiefly so-called sanitary wares for plumbers' 
and builders* use. 

The Edwin Bennett Pottery has been a landmark at 
the corner of Central and Canton avenues for nearly 
forty-five years — it makes a variety of superior wares. 

The Chesapeake Pottery, operated by Messrs. Haynes, 
Bennett & Co., is located on Locust Point, near the pier 
of the ferry that crosses from the foot of Broadway. Its 
semi-porcelain wares have attained a high reputation 
throughout the United States. 

Fertilizers. — Baltimore, as shown by the Annual Re- 
ports of the division of Mining Statistics of the U. S. 
Geological Survey, is far in advance of any other city in 



68 Baltimore Industries. 

the country in the manufacture of fertilizers. Tyson 
says that Maryland was the pioneer State of the Union 
in the use of guano and bone manure, which may account 
for her leadership in this department. Capt. Abel S. 
Dungan brought the first guano to this country from 
Peru in 1832, and used it on his farm near Baltimore. 
The first bone manure used in this country was crushed 
by Mr. Wm. Trego, of Baltimore, and sold to farmers of 
Montgomery and Harford Counties. 

The State of Maryland furnishes a great amount of 
burnt lime for agricultural purposes, and it also contains 
large deposits of marl ; but the latter are not at present 
much used. 

The artificial fertilizers manufactured in Baltimore con- 
stitute one of its most important industries. It is repre- 
sented by twenty-seven factories whose aggregate value 
is $2,000,000. The product of these factories is 450,000 
tons, valued at $9,000,000 annually. 

The sources of raw material used in this manufacture 
lie mostly outside the State of Maryland. The phosphate 
rock from South Carolina is the most important source of 
phosphoric acid, from 50,000 to 60,000 tons being brought 
to Baltimore each year. The necessary nitrogen (ammonia) 
is derived from tankage, ground-crackling, &c, from cities 
in the west where the great slaughter houses are situated. 
25,000 tons of this are annually received valued at 
$500,000. Other sources of ammonia are dried blood, 
bones, fish scraps, and bone black whose annual amount 
is valued at $1,500,000. 

In addition to this there are 1600 tons of natural 
guano brought annually to Baltimore, valued at $200,000. 



Manufacturers of Metals. 69 

The Potash used in fertilizers is derived almost entirely 
from Europe, its most important source being the min- 
eral, kainite (Mg S0 4 + KC1 + 3aq), which is shipped 
just as it is mined at Stassfurt in Germany. Some 
potassium-chloride and some sulphate is also imported. 

MANUFACTUKEKS OF METALS. 

Columbian Iron Works. — In 1870 Messrs. Malster and 
Donnell formed a co-partnership, for the purpose of 
building engines, boilers, and machinery. This firm 
was dissolved in 1872 and W. T. Malster became sole 
proprietor of the plant. He shortly after leased an addi- 
tional and larger yard at Canton, and the two yards were 
known from that date as the Columbian Iron Works. At 
the Canton yard, Mr. Malster built the powerful ice-boat 
" F. C. Latrobe " and the steamers " Enoch Pratt " and 
"Canton," also the steam yacht "Bretagne" for Mr. 
Henry Say of Paris. The latter vessel was, at the time of 
her completion, the largest steam yacht in the world. 
In addition to the building of the above noted vessels, 
the most important work done at this yard was the 
removal and overhauling of the U. S. S. " Tallapoosa," 
and the building of the six hundred foot iron bridge 
over Jones' Falls on north Calvert st. In addition to the 
work done at the Canton annex the following vessels 
were built at the Ann street yard : light house steamers 
" Laurel " and " Arbutus," steamers " Camille," " Royal 
Arch," and the powerful tug " Alex. Jones ; " this latter 
vessel had the distinction of having the first compound 
engines that were built in the city of Baltimore. Mr. 



70 Baltimore Industries. 

Malster continued at the Ann street and Canton yards 
until 1880, when it was again found necessary to seek 
more commodins quarters for the growing business of the 
Company. The great advantage of a dry dock induced 
Mr. Malster to move across the basin to the present site 
at Locust Point, where he leased the 450 feet dry dock 
for a term of ten years. 

In Feb. 1884, the Columbian Iron Works and Dry Dock 
Co. was incorporated. The first work taken in hand was 
the building of the engines and boilers of the steamers 
"Cumberland" and " Nansemond." In July 1884, the 
Company rebuilt the steamers " B. S. Ford " and " Caroline 
Miller." In 1886 the Company built the iron ornamental 
bridge across Jones' Falls at the Union Station. In 
1887-88 were built the steam ferry boats " Robert Gar- 
rett " and " Erastus Wiman " for the New York and 
Staten Island Ferry Co., and the new ice boat "An- 
napolis." The U. S. Gunboat " Petrel " was completed 
in 1889. In 1890 the oil tank steamer "Maverick" was 
completed, being the first vessel of this kind built on this 
side of the Atlantic. The keels of the cruisers " Mont- 
gomery" and "Detroit" were laid in March 1890. The 
Detroit was launched October 28, 1891, and the Mont- 
gomery Dec. 5th, of the same year. These tw r o vessels 
are now within a few months of completion. The 
Columbian Iron Works and Dry Dock Company employs 
an average force of about six hundred men. The prop- 
erty is located upon a tract of land adjoining Fort 
McHenry, having a water frontage of about 500 feet, and 
contains about fifteen acres. The dry dock is the largest 
and best equipped in the city. 



Manufacturers of Metals. 71 

The brass foundry has turned out some difficult cast- 
ings in the past year, notably the castings of the condensers 
for the engines of the cruisers Montgomery and Detroit, 
and the cylinders of the pumps of the U. S. armored 
battle-ship " Maine." 

The McShane Bell Foundry. — These works are situ- 
ated on North street, opposite Calvert Station, and 
form one of the largest establishments in the world 
engaged in the manufacture of church bells, chimes and 
peals of bells. Among the places in which these bells 
may be heard are : Foochow and Shaughai, China ; 
Mhow, Burmah ; Bareilly and Mossoori, India ; Tokio, 
Japan ; Monrovia and Liberia, Africa ; Salonica, Turkey ; 
Alexandria, Egypt ; Brazil, Bogota, Guayaquil, South 
America; Cuba, Jamaica; Birmingham, England; Varna, 
Bulgaria; Mexico and throughout Canada and the British 
Provinces and in every State in the Union. In 1878 
one of the McShane church bells was sent to the Paris 
Exposition, and was selected by the authorities to an- 
nounce each day the opening of the Exposition, and also 
received a medal and diploma. The Centennial chimes, 
exhibited at the Philadelphia Exposition, were afterward 
purchased by Mrs. A. T. Stewart for the cathedral at 
Garden City, L. I. 

In addition to the bell foundry there are extensive 
iron and brass foundries, copper boiler and bath-tub 
works, blacksmith and machine shops and brass finish- 
ing shops. This plant covers about six acres and gives 
employment to nearly 1,000 persons. 

Bartlett, Hayward & Co. are among the largest manu- 
facturers of iron in Baltimore. Their business, which 



72 Baltimore Industries. 

was started by Mr. Jonas H. Hay ward for the produc- 
tion of stoves in 1844, has been steadily enlarged and 
now embraces the manufacture of ornamental and all 
other iron work for architectural purposes, the prepara- 
tion of all materials for water and steam heating, and 
the construction of complete plants for making illumi- 
nating gas. 

This firm furnished the heating apparatus for the Johns 
Hopkins Hospital (see p. 38) and the City Hall of Balti- 
more ; also those in the Treasury, State War and Navy 
building, Post Office and new Library at Washington. 
They have erected, wholly or in part, gas-plants in New 
York, Brooklyn, St. Paul, Rochester, Newark and other 
cities. 

The works of the firm cover a large area on Pratt, 
Scott and McHenry streets. They employ from 800 to 
1,200 men, according to their contracts on hand. 

Machinery. — The Detrick & Harvey Machine Com- 
pany, manufacturers of machine tools and special ma- 
chinery, succeeded the firm of Detrick & Harvey. 

Special attention for a number of years has been de- 
voted to the development and improvement of the open 
side planer, a useful innovation in planing machines, 
the patents of which the company controls. 

The open side planer differs from the ordinary 
planer, in that it has but one post, the open side giving 
this tool an extremely wide range, and a great advantage 
over all other planing machines. It is specially adapted 
to work large and irregular shaped castings, which will 
not pass between the posts of a two-post planer of the 
same size, but which can readily be handled on this tool, 



Manufacturers of Metals. 73 

the outer end of work being supported by a supplemental 
rolling table. 

This firm has also built a variety of tools for the 
manufacture of guns from 10 to 12 calibre, notably hoop 
and jacket lathes, threading and slotting machines, etc. 
It also produces various machines for the treatment and 
manipulation of tobacco, including tobacco spraying, cigar 
and cigarette machines. 

The Robert Poole & Son Company was evolved from 
the old firm of Poole & Hunt, founded in 1843. 

Their works are situated in the northwestern part of the 
city of Baltimore, in the quarter known as Woodberry. 

The workshops are substantially built and cover about 
ten acres of ground, the Northern Central railroad pass- 
ing directly through the premises. Among its facilities 
is a recently added two-story brick extension to the 
machine shop, and an erecting-shop 100 feet Avide by 208 
feet long. This shop is equipped with a 30-ton travelling 
crane, 60 feet span, with a vertical height of 50 feet. A 
boring and turning mill capable of producing a turning 
25 feet in diameter, is one of the largest, if not the 
largest, tool of its kind in the world. A lathe capable 
of finishing wheels 54 feet in diameter with 10 foot face, 
and a planer over 12 feet between housings, 30 feet long 
and 12 feet high were also designed and built by the 
Company. 

This Company were pioneers in the manufacture of the 
loom for weaving: cotton dnck, to which to-dav Baltimore 
largely owes her reputation for the superiority of her cotton 
products. They developed the Leffel turbine water- 
wheel, and were also pioneers in the manufacture of cable 



74 Baltimore Industries. 

railway machinery, having furnished the first plant for 
the Chicago railway Co. in 1881, soon after the success- 
ful demonstration of the practicability of rope traction at 
San Francisco, Cal. Besides being actively engaged in 
the production of power-transmission machinery, the 
Company have designed and built a most extensive 
plant for the manufacture of machine-molded gearing, 
and they possess facilities for producing gears from one 
foot to 30 feet in diameter, weighing 100,000 pounds, 
and for the manufacture of pulleys of all sizes up to 50 
feet in diameter. They employ from 400 to 500 skilled 
workmen, and are extensively engaged in the manufacture 
of all kinds of special machinery. 

The Warjield Manufacturing Company was incorpor- 
ated 1883 and occupies the premises 336, 338, 340 and 
342 North street. 

Aside from the manufacture of complete plants for the 
generation and transmission of steam power, this Com- 
pany builds automatic cut-off, high speed steam engines, 
which are used extensively in driving dynamos for 
electric lighting. 

This Company is now making a specialty of electric 
lighting plants, and is the only firm in the South which 
owns and builds its own automatic steam engines, and 
furnishes the complete machinery for either an isolated 
plant or central station equipment. 

This Company furnished the contractors for the tunnel 
of the Baltimore Belt Line, their entire lighting equip- 
ment. 

Elevators. — Snowden & Cowman commenced the 
manufacture of elevators and hoisting machinery in 



Manufacturers of Metals. 75 

1875. Their specialty is elevators. In 1880 they found 
it necessary to increase their facilities for manufacturing 
by the erection of a large iron foundry and machine 
shop on West, near Leadenhall street. They manu- 
facture every part of their elevators (except wire ropes) 
at these works. 

Their pattern shop, wood workers and cabinet makers 
are all under the same roof, and under the direct super- 
vision of the senior partner. They employ about fifty 
mechanics. 

Safes. — The Miller Safe and Iron Works is an industry 
started some thirty-five years ago by its present pro- 
prietor, Mr. L. H. Miller. Besides the manufacture of 
portable safes, building iron-work, vaults, doors, etc., 
enters largely into their production. This firm has filled 
contracts given by the U. S. Government, including vaults 
of the U. S. Treasury buildings, Washington ; the Bal- 
timore Post Office, and many such buildings in other 
states ; also safes for the U. S. Consulates in foreign 
countries. 

The factory is located in South Baltimore and occupies 
a square, bounded by Fremont, Warner, Henrietta and 
Claret streets, with some twenty dwellings suitable for 
the workingmen. The number of men employed varies 
from 75 to 100 according to the contracts on hand. 



THE GEOLOGY OF BALTIMORE AND ITS VICINITY. 

PART I. 



GEOLOGY OF THE CRYSTALLINE ROCKS. 

By Professor George H. Williams 
of the Johns Hopkins University. 



INTRODUCTION. 

For the adequate comprehension of the crystalline rocks 
occurring within the limits of the U. S. Geological Survey 
atlas-sheet "Baltimore" which accompanies this text, 
some broader knowledge is necessary of the geology of 
that great Piedmont belt, of which it is a fragment. A 
brief general characterization of this province must there- 
fore precede the more detailed descriptions of the local 
geology about Baltimore. 

Along the eastern flank of the Appalachian and Green 
Mountain uplifts there is a belt of highly crystalline or 
semi-crystalline rocks which extends from Alabama to 
Maine, and even farther north. This zone attains its 
maximum width (300 miles or more) in the Carolinas. 
Toward the north it narrows and is nearly buried beneath 
6 77 



78 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

the Trias in New Jersey ; beyond New York, however, 
it suddenly broadens so as to embrace the larger part of 
New England. Within this whole province the rocks 
are so crystalline as to make fossils rare, while their 
structure presents some of the most puzzling problems in 
American geology. Many theories have obtained regard- 
ing the age and origin of the strata, but it is only within 
very recent years that elaborate and detailed work has 
begun to* satisfactorily solve the mystery. In New Eng- 
land the entire sequence of Palaeozoic sediments is found 
in more or less completely metamorphosed form, with occa- 
sional areas of more ancient crystalline rocks (Archaean) 
protruding through them, while they are cut by a variety 
of eruptive masses. 

South of New York the crystalline belt acquires a more 
homogeneous character, both structurally and topographi- 
cally, which fact, together with its position at the eastern 
foot of the Appalachian system, has occasioned its desig- 
nation as the Piedmont Plateau. 



PHYSIOGRAPHY OF THE PIEDMONT 
PLATEAU IN MARYLAND. 1 

Topographically the Piedmont plateau may be con- 
sidered to begin in Maryland at the eastern base of 
Catoctin mountain, a sharply denned ridge of nearly 
uniform height (1500 ft.) extending from Point of Rocks 
on the Potomac, northward to the Pennsylvania line just 

x See "The Petrography and Structure of the Piedmont Plateau in 
Maryland," by George H. Williams. Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., vol. 2, pp. 
301-322 and map, 1891. 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 79 

west of Emmitsburg. East of the Catoctin ridge nearly 
three thousand square miles of surface are exposed within 
the State before the overlap of clays and gravels belong- 
ing to the formations of the Coastal Plain are encountered. 
Geologically, however, the western boundary of the Pied- 
mont belt in Maryland must be drawn considerably 
farther east, if, as is usual, we wish to confine this term 
to rocks of undetermined age. At the base of Catoctin 
stretches a broad transgression of Newark red sandstone, 
from beneath whose eastern border emerge the upturned 
edges of the Trenton-Chazy x limestone. 

We may roughly outline the Piedmont region proper 
in Maryland as a trapezium, bounded on the north by the 
State line, on the east by the Baltimore and Ohio rail- 
road from Wilmington to Washington, on the south by the 
Potomac, and on the west by the Monocacy river. The 
surface of this area is nearly level, but it slopes very 
gently from a median water-shed, known as Parr's 
ridge. The region has been so recently elevated that its 
streams are still excavating narrow precipitous channels. 

The rocks composing the Maryland portion of the 
Piedmont plateau are divisible into two distinct classes. 
The members of one of these classes are all completely 
crystalline, and, whatever was their origin, they now 
retain no certain evidence of clastic structure. These 
rocks are confined to the eastern portion of the plateau 
province and disappear beneath the overlying deposits of 
unconsolidated sand, gravel and clay, which compose the 
Coastal plain. 

1 Determined in June, 1890, by Mr. C. R. Keyes, of the Johns 
Hopkins University. 



80 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

The second class of Piedmont rocks are semi-crystalline, 
and, while they have been subjected to a certain amount 
of metamorphism and alteration, they still plainly show 
that they were once sediments of an ordinary type. 
While as yet no fossils have been found in them, they are 
not more altered than similar formations which in other 
localities have yielded fossils, so that there is every reason 
to suppose that their age will subsequently be definitely 
determined on palaeontological evidence. While these 
semi-crystalline rocks are principally confined to the 
western half of the Plateau region, there are isolated areas 
of them within the holocrystalline belt, which appear to 
be much younger, but which have been protected from 
removal by being folded in among the gneisses. The 
line separating these two divisions of the Piedmont 
plateau, which we shall hereafter designate as the semi- 
crystalline (western) and holocrystalline (eastern) areas, is 
not coincident with the crest of Parr's ridge, but lies on 
its eastern flank. Commencing in the south near Great 
Falls on the Potomac, it passes slightly west of Rock- 
vllle and of Hood's Mills, then through Westminster on 
the Western Maryland railroad, and thence by a north- 
northeastward course to the Pennsylvania line. Further 
eastward there is a large area of the semi-crystalline 
schists in Harford county, surrounding the Peach Bottom 
and Delta roofing slates. These appear to be infolded in 
the gneisses, and are probably connected with the area 
near Finksburg by a narrow tongue passing the Northern 
Central railroad at Whitehall. A similar infold of slates 
also occurs further southward, near Occoquan and Dum- 
fries in Virginia. The lines of demarcation between these 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 81 

infolded areas and the surrounding gneisses are not less 
sharp than those separating the main crystalline and 
semi-crystalline areas themselves. 

STRUCTURE OF THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU IN 
MARYLAND AND ITS INTERPRETATION. 



The structure of this region has been worked out 
along three sections laid across it from west to east, 
each about fifty miles in length. They follow in the 
main the three lines of railroad which traverse the region 
(the Western Maryland, the Baltimore and Ohio main 
stem, and Baltimore and Ohio Metropolitan branch), 
although the northernmost section leaves the Western 
Marvland railroad where it turns southward, at Finks- 
burg, and is continued eastward to Glencoe, a point on the 
Northern Central railroad directly north of Baltimore. 

The most striking feature of these sections is their 
radiating or fan-like structure, and the fact that the verti- 
cal strata forming the axis of this fan follow a direction 
neither parallel to, nor coincident with the boundary be- 
tween the crystalline and semi-crystalline rocks. These 
two lines start from the same point on the Potomac (Great 
Falls), but diverge more and more toward the north. The 
fan, therefore, while its axis is throughout composed of 
semi-crystalline rocks, has its western flank made up of 
the least crystalline, and its eastern flank of the most 
crystalline portion of the Piedmont region. 

If the sections be followed from west to east, the 
oldest formation of known age — the Frederick lime- 
stone — emerges from beneath the transgression of Triassic 



82 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

(Newark) sandstone as a series of considerably folded beds, 
which are succeeded on the east and apparently overlain 
by carbonaceous and hardly altered shales. These are 
like those which occupy a similar position above the same 
limestone farther westward, and may represent the Hud- 
son River horizon. Still beyond, there follow with the 
same easterly dip, the thick beds of sandstone which com- 
pose Sugarloaf mountain. These thin out toward the 
north to a few insignificant sandstone patches, while to- 
ward the south they soon disappear beneath the Newark 
transgression. The Sugarloaf sandstone passes, on its 
eastern side, upward by a gradual transition through shaly 
layers into sandy slates, and these again into the succes- 
sion of sericite and chlorite schists, which compose the 
mass of the semi-crystalline area. Beneath the sandstone 
the shales are more disturbed, and, as there is here no 
such transition, this surface represents a fault or thrust. 1 
The main body of semi-crystalline rocks in the Pied- 
mont region is slate and soft schists, and, north of the 
Baltimore and Ohio main stem, limestone bands, which 
preserve a constant north to north-northeast strike. The 
dip of these rocks is always toward the east as far as 
a line (the axis of the fan) which runs nearly north from 

1 The course of the great Triassic trap dike, which extends from 
Emmitsburg entirely across the state is worth noticing in this con- 
nection. It is nearly parallel to the synclinal axis of the Piedmont 
plateau, and may represent a preexisting line of weakness in the crust. 
Its course runs along the western flank of Sugarloaf. Strong corrob- 
orative evidence of the thrust nature of this mountain is afforded by 
a recently discovered band of intensely crumpled, faulted aud dynam- 
ically metamorphosed slate, which occurs immediately beneath the 
western edge of the sandstone. 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 83 

Great Falls, where they become vertical. Toward this 
axis the dip becomes constantly steeper and steeper, yet 
the character of the rocks is but little changed, save that 
they become gradually more shattered and crinkled. 

After passing the vertical axis, the same structure is 
observed on the east as on the west, but in an inverse 
order. The dip of the strata turns gradually toward the 
west, becoming less and less steep as we proceed from the 
axis towards the Coastal plain. All the westerly dipping 
strata in the southern part of the Piedmont region, where 
the axis is nearly coincident with the boundary between 
the eastern and western areas, belong to the more crystal- 
line rocks. Further northward, however, there is a con- 
siderable expanse of the semi-crystalline schists on the 
eastern side of the axis. These do not differ in any way 
from those on the western side, except in the direction of 
their dip. The same general strike and dip are also 
unmistakably displayed within the completely crystalline 
rocks forming the eastern area ; but here there is far less 
uniformity in structure than is to be found among the 
semi-crystalline strata. Many disturbances attendant upon 
successive eruptions, dislocations and foldings, all anterior 
to the movement which gave the schists and slates their 
present position, have left their record in a much more 
irregular distribution and a much more complex structure ; 
a fact which, we shall see beyond, is of great significance 
in the interpretation of the sections here described. 

In spite of the apparent constancy of their dip, the 
horizontal extent of the semi-crystalline rocks cannot be 
taken as any measure of their real thickness. The cleavage 
has much obscured the bedding, and the succession must 



84 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

be many times repeated by sharp folds and faults. Such 
dislocations are now, however, almost entirely obscured 
by (1) the perfect and uniform cleavage, (2) the even sur- 
face to which they have all been worn down, and (3) the 
extensive superficial decay to which they have been sub- 
jected. As we approach their eastern boundary the semi- 
crystalline rocks exhibit the effects of more intense 
dynamic action. Along the axis, where they stand ver- 
tical, and also east of it, they are much broken, crinkled, 
and corrugated. Still all the disturbance and alteration 
observed in the semi-crystalline schists may be readily 
accounted for by a single earth-movement ; i. e., by a force 
acting for a long time in a single direction. 

Throughout all of the Piedmont area in Maryland east 
of the axis there is the general tendency to westerly dip 
above alluded to, and yet this feature is so much less con- 
stant in the noncrystalline than in the semi-crystalline 
rocks that it indicates a structure added to others which 
it has only partially obliterated. The very irregular 
areas occupied by the different rocks, the abrupt changes 
in trend and structure, and the much more intense alter- 
ation of the sedimentary beds, all bear witness to suc- 
cessive periods of compression and disturbance to which 
the western schists could never have been subjected. No 
action of a force from a single direction can be made to 
account for the implicated structure of the eastern rocks, 
as it can for those further west. These must have been 
wrenched, folded and faulted at different times, and in this 
respect the two portions of the Piedmont region in Mary- 
land present one of their strongest contrasts. 

To account for the structure of the Piedmont plateau in 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks, 85 

Maryland as outlined in the preceding paragraphs, three 
hypotheses have successively suggested themselves. Two 
of these have, however, been already found to be more 
or less at variance with facts observed ; and although it 
cannot of course be asserted that, as the work of mapping 
in detail progresses, the third hypothesis in its present 
form will be found to stand the final test, it may be pro- 
visionally accepted as best in accord with our knowledge 
of the facts at this time. 

These three hypotheses are : 

L. That the rocks of both the eastern and western 
areas are of the same age, and that they have been bent 
into a broad synclinal whose flanks are so sharply folded, 
faulted and thrust as to simulate the fan-structure 
observed in high mountain chains; and that the eastern 
flank of this synclinal or fan was much more highly 
metamorphosed than the western both by more intense 
dynamic action and by intrusion of a great amount of 
eruptive material. 

2. That the more highly crystalline, eastern area is 
greatly older than the western schists, and served as a 
rigid buttress against which these were thrust and folded. 

3. That the eastern area is composed of rocks far 
more ancient than the western, which extend out under 
these, forming the floor upon which they were deposited ; 
and that, although already much folded and metamor- 
phosed, this crystalline floor underwent at least one more 
folding after the schists had been laid down, carrying 
these with it and involving them in a considerable, but not 
an extreme amount of disturbance and metamorphism. 

The first of these hypotheses, which was held by 



86 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

Tyson, is naturally suggested by the close correspondence 
of sedimentary rock types in the western and eastern 
areas, and also by the structure, in making a section 
across the region. A sufficient cause of the increased 
metamorphism and disturbance on the east was sought in 
the vast amount of eruptive rocks, which are absent 
from the western area. As conclusive, however, against 
the identity of age for the semi-crystalline and holocrys- 
talline rocks we may summarize the following points : . 

a. The structure is not really a synclinal, but a fan- 
like divergence of dip from a central vertical axis, such 
as could not be produced by any synclinal bending in a 
continuous series of similar beds. 

b. Any cause altering any part of an original series 
more than another would not make an abrupt contact, 
such as we find between the semi-crystalline and highly 
crystalline rocks of Maryland, but a gradual transition. 

c. Any cause altering one flank of a synclinal more 
than the other would make the contact between the two 
kinds of rock and the axis of the synclinal coincide, as 
is not the case in Maryland. 

d. The eruptive rocks of the eastern area are found in 
many places in close proximity to the slates or schists, 
without having effected their alteration ; hence they are 
either not the cause of metamorphism, or they are them- 
selves older than the semi-crystalline rocks ; and, more- 
ever, the sudden disappearance of the abundant eruptive 
rocks at the edge of the western area is itself a strong 
reason for supposing that it is of later age. 

e. We cannot suppose that excessive dynamic action 
was the cause of the metamorphism, because where we 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 87 

should expect the folding force to have acted equally we 
find the hardest rocks (eruptives) much more altered, 
foliated and disturbed than the soft argillites. 

In face of the facts, we seem, therefore, obliged to 
admit that the boundary line between the semi-crystal- 
line and holocrystalline portions of the Maryland Pied- 
mont area represents a great time-break. 

The second and third of the above-mentioned hypoth- 
eses assume the difference in age of the western schists 
and eastern gneisses and eruptives. The second hypoth- 
esis (i. e., that there was a passively resistant buttress of 
crystalline rock) is, however, as little in accord with the 
facts as the first, since it cannot possibly be reconciled 
either with the conformity in dip and strike of the schists 
and gneisses along their contact, or with the infolding of 
the slates and schists in the gneisses, as may be seen in 
the Peach Bottom-Delta area and at Occoquan, Virginia. 

We are therefore driven to the third hypothesis as the 
most reasonable explanation of the facts. This supposes 
an ancient and crystalline floor, upon which were deposi- 
ted the sediments now forming the western slates, sand- 
stones, limestones and schists. At the time of the 
Appalachian uplift this crystalline floor underwent a 
final folding, which involved the overlying sediments, and 
thereby folded, faulted, cleaved and altered them. This 
hypothesis seems to account for the difference between 
the rocks of the two areas and for the abruptness of their 
contact, while at the same time it explains the conformity 
along this contact, and the fact that this boundary and 
the axis of the synclinal or fan are not coincident. We 
may therefore accept it as the most probable one, unless 



88 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

future exploration shall render some modification of 
it necessary. 

GEOLOGY OF THE EASTERN OR HOLO- 

CRYSTALLINE PORTION OP THE 

PIEDMONT PLATEAU IN 

MARYLAND. 

The area included within the map (U. S. Geological 
Survey atlas-sheet " Baltimore "), which it is the par- 
ticular object of this communication to describe, lies 
entirely within the eastern or holocrystalline division of 
the Piedmont plateau. The various rock formations 
composing it cross Maryland from the southeast corner 
of Pennsylvania and the north end of Delaware in a 
general southwest direction. Their course is, however, 
not a straight one through the state, but forms a double 
curve, whose south side is convex on the east and concave 
on the west. This curve corresponds to the great westerly 
bend in the course of the triassic sandstone and folded 
Palaeozoic beds of eastern Pennsylvania. It is, of course, 
much less distinct in the highly crystalline rocks of the 
eastern Piedmont region, but that its presence can be 
traced at all amid the varied and complex structures of 
these very ancient rocks, is welcome evidence that at 
least the final impress was imparted to their strike by 
the great Appalachian folding. The convex or eastern 
branch of this curve may be most distinctly traced on 
our map in the belts of marble north of the city, which, 
near Towson, turn from a southwest direction to a trend 
directly west through the Green Spring valley. Beyond 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 89 

the western limits of the map these same marble belts 
turn ao-ain to the south-southwest, as do all the other 
rocks with which they are associated, and this course 
they hold into Virginia. 

That such structural features of the eastern Piedmont 
region as conform to the Appalachian folding are not, 
however, the only ones which belong to these rocks, but 
that their present metamorphism and complexity must 
be accounted for by assuming that they have been sub- 
jected to several periods of successive disturbance, has 
been already emphasized (see above p. 84). 

The rocks composing the noncrystalline portion of the 
Piedmont plateau in Maryland are petrographically divis- 
ible into six distinct types. Three of these are of un- 
doubtedly eruptive origin, and may be designated, accord- 
ing to their chemical and mineralogical composition, as 
gabbro, peridotite or pyroxenite, and granite. The three 
remaining types — gneiss , marble, and quartz-schist — are 
completely crystalline, and therefore exhibit no certain 
traces of clastic structure. The position to be assigned 
to this complex in the geological column is a matter de- 
serving careful consideration, although data for a perfectly 
satisfactory conclusion are not yet at hand. It is believed 
that these rocks are demonstrably older than the altered 
lower Palaeozoics of the western Piedmont region (see 
above pp. 82 and 86) ; and yet that they themselves contain 
in their chemical composition, stratigraphy and in the 
presence of certain obscure conglomeratic beds near Wash- 
ington, evidence of a clastic origin. For these reasons, 
as an expression of our present knowledge, the complex 
is provisionally assigned on the accompanying map to the 



90 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

Algonkian horizon. 1 It is not, however, impossible that 
future work in this and related regions north and south 
may result in referring the Baltimore crystallines to the 
Archaean, the Algonkian being absent in Maryland. 

The prevailing rock over the entire noncrystalline 
area is the gneiss. It enters the state from the north in 
a very wide band, completely surrounding the Delta- 
Peach Bottom slate area, but its breadth rapidly contracts 
toward the Potomac. The remarkably irregular forms 
of the marble areas, which are intercalated in the gneiss 
complex, show how intricate the stratigraphy of the 
latter really is. Much of its apparent simplicity is 
due to the obliteration of its true bedding through 
secondary foliation. 

The oldest, as well as the most extensive of the three 
eruptive rocks which so abundantly intrude the gneiss 
complex is the gabbro. Of this there are three main 
areas in Maryland : the Stony forest area of Harford and 
Cecil counties ; the great belt or sheet which extends from 
north of Conowingo on the Susquehanna river, in a south- 
southwest direction to Baltimore city ; and the irregular 
intrusive area which is mainly developed to the west of 
Baltimore, but extends thence as far south as Laurel. 

The next eruptive rocks in point of age are the basic 
magnesian silicates, peridotite or pyroxenite, and their 
alteration products, serpentine and steatite. These are 
intimately associated with the gabbros, but occur most 
abundantly toward the western edge of the crystalline 

1 See C. R. Van Hise : " Correllation Essay on the Archaean and 
Algonkian Formations." Bulletin of the U. S. Geological Survey, No. 87, 
(in press). 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 91 

region. They do not occur in so large masses as the 
other eruptive rocks, but occupy numerous small areas 
which it would be useless to enumerate. 

The youngest intrusive rocks which break through the 
gneiss are the granites. They form large masses at 
Port Deposit and Havre de Grace on the Susquehanna 
river ; also near Joppa and to the north of Towson ; at 
Woodstock and Sykesville ; at, and south of Ellicott 
City ; and at several localities near Washington. The 
granites are so like the surrounding gneisses in chemical, 
as well as in mineralogical composition, that where they 
have been greatly foliated through dynamic action, it 
becomes a matter of no small difficulty to distinguish 
them. 

Detailed descriptions of these types of crystalline rocks 
will only be attempted in so far as they fall within the 
limits of the map of Baltimore and its vicinity here 
under consideration. 

PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION OF THE GEOLOGY 
NEAR BALTIMORE. 

The unit of area selected for the description of the geol- 
ogy about Baltimore is the U. S. Geological Survey atlas- 
sheet. This covers an area of about 190 square miles, 
or one-sixteenth of a square degree between parallels 
39°15' and 39°30' N. Lat, ; and meridians 76°30 / and 
76°45' W. Lon. The scale of this map is 1 : 62,500 or 
nearly one mile to the inch. 

Geologically, the Baltimore sheet is a small fragment 
of the above described eastern, or holocrystalline portion 



92 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

of the Piedmont plateau, with its overlying Coastal plain 
formations. The very irregular boundary line between 
the older rocks and the unconsolidated deposits crosses the 
sheet from northeast to southwest. The details of the 
complicated and varied geology of this small region can 
only be understood in connection with the foregoing 
description of the larger provinces to which it belongs. 

THE STRATIFIED COMPLEX. 

All six types of crystalline rocks which have been 
enumerated as composing the entire eastern Piedmont 
belt in Maryland are well represented within the 
limits of the Baltimore atlas-sheet. Those three types 
which possess a conformable sequence and a banded struc- 
ture, analogous to stratification, will first be considered 
under the head of gneiss, marble (dolomite), and quartz- 
schist. 

The Gneiss, 

Petrographieal Character. — Of all the rocks occurring 
within the limits of the Baltimore sheet, those which may 
be classified as gneiss are the most widely distributed and 
the most varied in character. 

They occupy most of the eastern and northern portions 
of the crystalline area, but are largely replaced by erup- 
tive rocks in the western portion. 

The Baltimore gneisses embrace a great variety of types, 
which range from granitoid aggregates of feldspar and 
quartz, on the one hand, to nearly pure mica or horn- 
blende schists on the other. All of these also show con- 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 93 

siderable structural variation in their coarseness of grain, 
the perfection of their parallel arrangement, etc. 

The gneiss is sometimes quite constant in character for 
considerable distances, but more usually it consists of a 
succession of differently constituted layers. 

In spite of a frequent persistence of strike and dip, the 
gneiss everywhere shows that it has been subjected to 
intense and repeated dynamic action. This is appar- 
ent in the large features of its structure, in its greatly 
crumpled, gnarled and twisted character, and in the pro- 
found metamorphism, amounting to almost complete re- 
crystallization, which has gone on within it. No cer- 
tain traces of clastic origin have ever been detected in 
the Baltimore gneisses, although their sedimentary char- 
acter may be inferred from their rapid alternations of 
beds of different composition, and from the nature of other 
rocks intercalated in them, like the marbles and quartz- 
schists. In the continuation of the same rocks south- 
ward to the neighborhood of Washington evidences of a 
conglomeratic character have also been observed. 

The color of the more massive gneisses varies from 
white to a dark grey or blue. The more micaceous and 
hornblendic varieties are dark brown or green. The 
mineral composition and structure is quite normal for 
gneisses. Epidote is a frequent constituent of the more 
acid types, while the more micaceous layers are frequently 
rich in such characteristic metamorphic minerals as gar- 
net, fibrolite, kyanite and staurolite. The hornblende 
gneisses contain an abundance of epidote, sphene and 
rutile. The quartz and feldspar not infrequently exhibit 
the effects of pressure under the microscope, and when 
7 



94 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

these are not visible, it is because the constituents are 
products of new crystallization. 

The most characteristic sections of the Baltimore 
gneisses are exposed along the Gunpowder river, especi- 
ally above Loch Raven ; along Herring's Run above 
Hall Spring; on Jones' Falls between Baltimore and 
Woodberry ; and on Gwynn's Falls below Wetheredville. 
The freshest, and, in many respects, the most characteris- 
tic material is, however, to be found about the mouths of 
the numerous shafts to the water conduit from Monte- 
bello to Loch Raven. 1 With the exception of a little 
marble near Loch Raven, the gneiss is the only rock 
passed through by this tunnel. The material which was 
brought to the surface is particularly instructive in 
showing the effects of profound folding, faulting and 
crushing. 

Structure. — The geological structure of the crystalline 
rocks near Baltimore is particularly involved and diffi- 
cult. The original stratigraphy has been largely obscured 
or obliterated by the development of secondary foliation 
during successive periods of disturbance and metamorph- 
ism. An attempt has been made to represent on the first 
of the two geological maps the general strike of the 
gneisses by the direction of the heavy green hacheur 
lines. It will be noted that the main trend of the rocks 
on the eastern portion of the sheet is nne-ssw ; but that 
through its northwestern portion the trend alters to E-w. 
This important change in strike commences in the neigh- 
borhood of Towson, and causes all of the foliated rocks 

1 See description of the Baltimore water-works, p. 48. 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 95 

to conform to the northern edge of the great mass of 
eruptive gabbro west of Baltimore. This trend, how- 
ever, also corresponds to a similar structural feature 
farther north, as has been explained above (p. 88) ; and 
it is difficult to say how far the intrusion of the gabbro 
was a cause, and how far an effect of the westward bend- 
ing of the strike west of Towson. The latter is, how- 
ever, rendered the more probable from the fact that this 
divergence from the main direction does not soon die out 
toward the north, but may be traced through all the 
crystallines to the Pennsylvania line. 

Another striking and unexpected feature exhibited by 
the gneisses is that their foliation follows the north- 
eastern boundary of the gabbro mass. This gives the 
gneisses a southeast trend, and causes them to join those 
with a normal northeast strike in a sharp V, instead of 
blending with them in a gentle curve, as at Towson. Such 
a conformity of the strike in gneiss to the boundaries of 
eruptive masses which it surrounds has frequently been 
observed. In this case, it is well shown by the direction 
of the band of quartz-schist, which extends from near 
Mt. Washington to Montebello, but unfortunately the 
details of structure are here obscured by the overlying 
Coastal plain deposits. 

The gneiss is not only conformable to, but it passes 
insensibly into the quartz-schist. It is also in general 
conformable to the marble where the two are in contact. 
In certain notable instances this is, however, not the 
case, but the strikes of the two rocks meet at a high 
angle, indicating great dislocation. Such cases may be 
seen north of Lake Roland, south of Brooklandville, on 



96 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

the northern edge of the Mine Bank valley and along 
the southern edge of the gneiss plateau east of Cockeys- 
ville. Such unconformities indicate that the complex 
structure of this region has been produced, not merely by 
folding and crumpling of the strata, but by faulting and 
thrusting on so large a scale and at so many periods as 
to render the deciphering of the successive events diffi- 
cult, if not impossible. The very inadequate exposures 
over large areas of the gneiss doubtless hide other impor- 
tant thrusts and faults, but a proof that such exist may 
be found in the vast amount of vein quartz, which 
everywhere appears at the surface, as the gneiss itself 
decomposes into soil. 

Alteration. — Superficial exposures of the gneiss are 
very rarely fresh. This widespread decay extends also 
for a considerable distance below the surface, at least 
in an incipient form, as may be seen from the very rapid 
disintegration, in road and railway cuttings, of rock hard 
enough to be blasted out. Such extensive alteration is a 
great obstacle to the deciphering of the real structure of 
the gneiss, since it obscures the petrographical character, 
and also renders unreliable the dip and strike even in 
exposures of considerable size. 

The exact amount of alteration differs with the min- 
eral composition, those layers which are most massive and 
feldspathic being, as a rule, the most resistant. Planes 
where there has been movement and consequent crushing 
are also more liable to decomposition. This is well seen 
in one of the best preserved and massive exposures of the 
gneiss anywhere near Baltimore, viz., in the quarries 
on Jones' Falls, opposite Druid Hill Park. The rock is 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 97 

here largely quarried as a building or paving stone ; and 
yet certain of its layers are much altered. In many cases 
this has resulted in the production of new minerals which 
have rendered this a well-known locality for specimens. 
Among the species which have been produced in this way 
may be mentioned : The zeolites, stilbite, chabazite (hay- 
denite), harmotome, heulandite (beaumontite), laumon- 
tite; calcite, siderite, barite, pyrite, epidote, halloysite, 
chlorite and quartz. 

Uses. — The Baltimore gneiss was formerly used as. a 
building stone, and such important structures as the cathe- 
dral, jail and courthouse of Baltimore are constructed of 
it. The irregular and mottled structure of the gneiss, 
however, ill-suited it for this purpose, and other more 
agreeable materials have replaced it as a building stone. 
It is still very extensively employed as a foundation and 
paving stone. For such purposes it is quarried on Jones 
Falls (so-called "Falls road blue-stone ") and at other 
localities on Gwynn's Falls and Herring's Run. 

The Marble (Dolomite). 

Pelrographical Character. — This rock is designated on 
the map as the Cockeysville marble, because it is ex- 
tensively quarried at this place. It is throughout its 
entire extent on the Baltimore sheet a highly crystalline 
dolomite with all of its original impurities separated in 
the form of well defined minerals. It has now lost all 
evidence of clastic origin, except the frequent arrange- 
ment of its accessory constituents in parallel layers, which 
probably represents its former bedding. 



98 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

The variations in the dolomite are dependent on dif- 
ferences in its chemical composition, in the coarseness 
of its grain and in the nature and amount of its acces- 
sory constituents. 

The proportion of magnesian carbonate in the dolomite 
is variable, as is shown by different analyses. Its average is 
perhaps about 40 per cent. A complete analysis of a speci- 
men from Cockeysville yielded to»Mr. J. E. Whitfield, 
chemist of the U. S. Geological Survey, the following 
result (see Bull, U. 8. G. 8., No. 60, p. 159): 



Si0 2 . 


.44 


Al 2 O s . 


1.22 


FeO . 


trace 


CaO . 


. 30.73 


MgO . 


. 20.87 


co 2 . 


. 45.85 


Ignition 


1.22 



100.33 



The coarseness of grain of the dolomite varies con- 
siderably, even within short distances. The very coarse 
varieties, known to the quarrymen as "alum stone/' are 
useless for building material, but are extensively burned 
for lime at Texas, Baltimore county. The marbles of the 
eastern portion of the Piedmont region are, however, 
throughout much coarser than the fine, compact crystalline 
limestones of the western or semi-crystalline area. 

Another striking contrast between the marbles of these 
two regions is that, while the latter contain their impuri- 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 99 

ties in the form of thin argillaceous bands, the former 
have theirs represented by layers of perfectly crystallized 
silicates. Of these by far the most important is the dark 
brown mica, phlogopite. This is frequently very abun- 
dant, and often causes the dolomite to strongly resemble 
a gneiss in appearance. Other accessory constituents of 
the dolomite are tremolite, white pyroxene, green mus- 
covite, brown and black tourmaline, scapolite, quartz, 
pyrite and rutile. 

Sti^ueture. — The Baltimore marbles have been so in- 
tensely folded, and their recrystallization has been so 
complete, that the working out of the details of their 
structure is well-nigh impossible. The general lines of 
their structure must be inferred from their areal distribu- 
tion and their relations to the adjoining gneisses. But 
even their areal distribution is so anomalous and irregu- 
lar as to render any explanation of their structure un- 
satisfactory. It is clear that it is to be accounted for not 
by folding alone, but by folding accompanied by thrusts 
and faults at several successive periods. The usual occur- 
rence of the quartz-schist on only one side of the lime- 
stone belts is good evidence of thrusting, as may be seen 
in the Mine Bank valley, the Dulaney valley east of 
the Hampton estate, and in the Green Spring valley. 
North of Lake Roland a huge block of marble seems to 
have been forced southward, abruptly cutting off the high 
ridge of quartz-schist, and itself dividing into an eastern 
and western arm at the point of the gneiss ridge which 
rises west of Ruxton. 

This area of the dolomite is faulted against the gneiss 
both on its eastern and western sides, and forms the fertile 



100 The Geology of Baltimore and its Viciniti,. 

valley between Brooklandville and Sherwood. Between 
the Mine Bank and Dnlaney valleys is a great monoclinal 
fold of gneiss, having the marble of the Long Green 
valley at its centre and cut off by a fault along its south- 
ern edge. The strike of this area is north-northeast. On 
the opposite side of the map is seen a similar fold, whose 
trend is east-west, and at whose centre is the marble area 
of the " Caves" estate. Any faulting of this gneiss, which 
bounds the Green Spring valley on the north, against the 
marble is less apparent than in the last case. 

The most complex relations of the dolomite are caused 
by the great boss of intrusive granite which forms the 
plateau east of Texas. From this the surrounding rocks 
dip away in all directions, while their strike follows its 
boundary, thus producing a quaquaversal structure. 
The gniess which adjoins this granite plateau on the north 
and north-west appears to be abruptly faulted against the 
marble between Texas and Cockeysville. 

These broad outlines of structure it is difficult to 
explain, but they will serve to show how complex the 
stratigraphy of the dolomite is. 

Relations of the Dolomite to Topography. — There are 
few places where the dependence of topography upon the 
nature of the underlying rock can better be seen than in 
the contrast between the flat narrow dolomite valleys 
of Baltimore county, and the abrupt ridges of gneiss 
and quartz-schist which bound them. The ready solu- 
bility of the marble has caused it to rapidly sink down, 
leaving behind its small insoluble portion in the form of 
a bright red residual clay, which composes its overlying 
soil. Thus we find a valley in every limestone area, even 



Geology of the Crystalline JRocks. 101 

when no important stream flows through it. Standing 
on some high projecting point of gneiss, we can follow for 
miles the boundaries of the limestone in the contours of 
the sharply denned valleys, as distinctly as though we had 
a geological map spread out before us. 

The failure of the larger streams to follow these well 
marked valleys is a striking feature of the Baltimore 
County topography. The suddenness with which the 
Gunpowder river or Western run, for instance, turn aside 
from a limestone valley to cut a narrow gorge through a 
gneiss ridge indicates that the present drainage system 
originated under different conditions of surface than that 
which now obtains. 

Uses. — The Baltimore county marble is extensively 
quarried either for burning, or for use as a flux, or as a 
building stone. 

The first use was formerly much more extensive than it 
is at present. Nearly every farmer on the limestone areas 
quarried and burnt his own lime and supplied his less 
fortunate neighbors. Now, however, it is more econom- 
ical to import the necessary quick-lime from the Fred- 
erick valley. The dolomite is still burnt at Texas, but 
most of the other kilns throughout the Baltimore neigh- 
borhood have fallen into disuse. 

Some of the largest quarries near Texas are now worked 
for flux used by blast furnaces — those of the Maryland 
Steel Company being the largest consumers. 

The most important application of the dolomite is, 
however, to the construction of buildings. The quarries 
of Hugh Sisson & Sons, near Cockeysville, are well 



102 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

known. The following account of their present status 
has been kindly furnished by the owners : 

The Beaver Dam marble from Cockeysville, Baltimore County, Md., 
is a dolomitic limestone of superior quality and of a uniformly white 
color. 

The U. S. Government tests, made by Lieut. Col. Q. A. Gilmore, 
show that for durability and strength it is unequaled, its compressive 
strength being 22,416 lbs. to the square inch, which is greater than 
of any other marble, limestone, or granite, while its absorption of 
water is so slight as to be practically nothing. It is nearly free from 
discoloring agents, and this fact, taken with its non-absorbing qualities, 
establish its durability and permanency of color. 

The quarries have been worked for over 60 years, and in that time 
the marble has been used in the construction of many of the largest 
and most important buildings in the country, such as the Capitol 
at Washington, where 108 large columns, each 26 feet in length, 
were furnished ; U. S. Post Office and Washington Monument at 
Washington ; Peabody Institute, Maryland Club, Rialto building, 
etc., in Baltimore ; the Drexel and Penn Mutual Insurance buildings 
in Philadelphia; the spires of St. Patrick's cathedral in New York, 
etc. ; together with a score of handsome churches and hundreds of 
beautiful residences in the different cities. 

The annual out-put of the quarries is about 27,000 tons, at a cost 
of about $125,000. 

The Company have a large plant of the most improved machinery, 
including saw mills, channelling machines, steam drills, diamond 
drills, locomotives, hoisting engines, derricks, etc., etc. 



The Quartz-Schist. 

Petrographieal Character and Structure. — The least im- 
portant of the rocks of probably sedimentary origin in 
the Baltimore region is a peculiar schist composed mostly 
of quartz and divided into beds of varying thickness by 
parallel layers of muscovite. The adjoining figure shows 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 



103 



the microscopical appearance of this rock. Its quartz 
grains are of different sizes, but are so completely recrys- 
tallized that they form an interlocking mosaic. Beside 
the flakes of muscovite, the only other constituents are 
iron stains and occasional crystals of tourmaline, micro- 
dine and zircon. Sharply defined areas showing a minute 
spherulitic polarization are also common. They are iden- 
tical with those occurring in the Saxon "greisen," and prob- 
ably represent altered 
feldspar. The rock 
shows the effect of 
pressure in the un- 
dulatory extinction of 
its quartz grains. The 
cleavage planes of the 
quartz-schist are due 
to thin layers of mus- 
covite in good-sized 
scales, with their basal 
planes all parallel to 
the foliation. Its most 
characteristic feature 
is imparted to this 
rock by long crystals 
of black tourmaline 

which have been developed in these muscovite layers. 
These crystals are invariably broken and their fragments 
separated along one line, showing that the rock was com- 
pressed in one direction and elongated or stretched in 
another at right angles to it. These tourmaline crystals 
closely resemble the broken and pulled out belemnites 




Microscopical section of the Quartz-Schist. 
Magnifi-d 25 diameters. Q. quartz; m. mi- 
crocline; s. muscovite; z. zircon; a. aggre- 
gates due to alteration of a feldspar (?). Iron 
hydroxide stains. 



104 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

which Heira has described and figured from certain Swiss 
rocks. The appearance of a cleavage surface of the 
quartz-schist, covered with niuscovite and such elongated 
tourmaline crystals, is shown on the accompanying plate. 

The quartz-schist never attains any great thickness. 
Its normal position is between the gneiss and the marble 
and below the latter. Its most characteristic occurrence 
is in what is known as Setter's ridge which extends as a 
prominent topographical feature along the southern edge 
of the Green Spring and Mine Bank limestone valleys all 
the way from Green Spring Junction to a point beyond 
Summerfield, except where it is interrupted by the great 
faulted marble block north of Lake Roland. Although, as 
above stated, its normal position is between the marble 
and gneiss, it rarely occurs except on one side of a lime- 
stone valley — a fact which indicates that the monoclinal 
succession of strata has been produced by faulting. In 
some cases the quartz-schist appears to be altogether 
absent between the gneiss and marble, while in others 
it attains a considerable development within the gneiss 
where no marble at all is visible. The latter is true of 
the quartz-schist band extending eastward and westward 
from Pikesville, and of that which stretches in a south- 
west direction from Mt. Washington to Montebello. 
The petrographical character of this rock with its elon- 
gated black tourmalines, is so marked and so constant 
that its recognition is easy, and the narrow bands in 
which it occurs are useful guides in tracing the main 
lines of structure in the gneisses. 

Whatever the origin of the quartz-schist may have 
been, it is closely allied to the gneiss, into which it 





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Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 105 

grades by imperceptible transitions. It is, however, 
always sharply defined against the limestone. It is not 
improbable that this peculiar rock represents a facies of 
the gneiss, produced by some dynamic agency, for it 
always shows the effects of intense mechanical action and 
motion. Moreover the abundance of tourmaline points to 
the agency of fumaroles which are always important factors 
in the recrystallization of deeply buried rocks. It has 
occurred to the writer to compare this rock in its relation 
to the gneiss with the Saxon " greisen" in its well-known 
relation to the granites. (See Rosenbusch : Die massigen 
Gesteine, p. 44.) 

Uses. — The readiness with which the quartz-schist 
cleaves into broad slabs well fits it for flagging. It 
is quarried at a number of points in the Green Spring 
valley, but is best exposed in the Shoemaker quarry, 
about half a mile west of Stevenson station. From here 
it is transported for considerable distances, and may often 
be seen in foundations and bridge abutments. 

A different variety of the quartz-schist from that above 
described, occurs on the eastern edge of the Texas marble 
area, between it and the plateau of eruptive granite. The 
rock is of a pale grey color and compact fine grain. It 
is quarried directly below the county almshouse. North 
of this it is mostly composed of hollow spherulitic aggre- 
gates of radiating quartz crystals. A similar orbicular 
quartzite occurs as a vein in the dolomite near Brook- 
landville. This structure is strongly indicative of an 
origin through fumarole agency. 



106 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

ERUPTIVE ROCKS. 

The three types of eruptive rocks have all broken 
through and have more or less modified the gneisses, and 
are hence younger than these rocks. The intense dynamic 
action, which has produced such complete recrystallization 
in the banded complex, has likewise greatly metamor- 
phosed the eruptive rocks, and yet not enough to have 
obliterated their original character. Each type exhibits 
several chemical or structural facies dependent on the 
original differentiation of the magma or upon conditions 
of solidification, and to these must be added other varie- 
ties due to subsequent metamorphism. These eruptive 
rocks will be considered in order of their age, beginning 
with the oldest. Much interesting detail may be omitted 
from these descriptions because full accounts of them 
have either been, or are soon to be, published elsewhere. 

The Gabbro. 1 

Petrographical Character. — For detailed information 
regarding this rock and the products of its metamorphism, 
reference must be made to the text and plates of the 
memoir cited above. It is a rather fine-grained granular 
aggregate of hypersthene, diallage, plagioclase (bytownite), 
and magnetite, with varying amounts of apatite and 
brown compact hornblende. It is usually, when un- 
altered, massive, dark in color, and heavy, with a de- 

1 See, " The Gabbros and associated Hornblende Rocks occurring near 
Baltimore, Md.," by George H. Williams. Bulletin of the U. S. Geo- 
logical Survey, No. 28, Washington, 1 886. 



% 

Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 107 

cidedly trappean aspect. There is considerable varia- 
tion in the grain of this rock, but most of its origi- 
nal facies are chemical. Increase of iron produces very 
dark and heavy varieties rich in magnetite, which, 
upon decomposing, produces a bright red soil ; other 
varieties are of a pale buff color, but are rich in magne- 
sia, thus forming transitions to the peridotites and pyroxe- 
nites ; still rarer modifications are rich in alumina, pro- 
ducing highly feldspathic rocks; while others have an 
excess of silica in the form of blue quartz. In spite of 
these variations, however, the unmetamorphosed gabbro 
is remarkably constant in its character throughout its 
whole extent. 

Metamorphism. — The dynamic effects so noticeable in 
the gneisses are also very apparent in the gabbro. The 
intense pressure has extensively changed the original 
pyroxene to secondary green hornblende (uralite) in a 
manner which has been so fully described in the above 
cited paper that it need not be repeated here. In some 
cases only the pyroxene has been changed and the re- 
sultant rock is as massive as the original gabbro, but has 
a greenish color. This is called massive gabbro-diorite. 
Where the action of the pressure has been more intense 
the entire rock has been recrystallized. In such cases 
the secondary hornblende usually has a parallel arrange- 
ment, producing a hornblende gneiss or schist. These 
rocks, when they can be shown to have originated by the 
metamorphism of the gabbro, are called schistose gabbro- 
diorite. 

In the process of the dynamic metamorphism of the 
gabbro, several minerals beside the green hornblende are 



108 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

produced, which are not found in the original rock. The 
most important of these are saussurite (zoisite), epidote, 
garnet, rutile and quartz. 

The completeness of the metamorphism of the gabbro 
is found to depend largely on the size of the mass. The 
unaltered rock is found only in the largest areas and 
these are as a rule most changed around their edges. 
Small or thin masses of gabbro are completely changed 
to gabbro-diorite, and then usually of the schistose variety. 
Where the original rock is preserved, it and both varie- 
ties of the gabbro-diorite are so intimately mingled that 
no attempt has been made to distinguish them on the map. 

Areal Distribution. — The main mass of gabbro which 
falls within the Baltimore sheet occurs west of the city. 
Its northern boundary runs nearly along Smith's avenue 
from Mt. Washington to Pikesville. A prolongation of 
this area extends eastward beneath the Potomac gravels, 
which hide its exact boundary, between Notre Dame and 
Guilford. Thence its eastern boundary is an irregular 
south-southwest line from Druid Hill Park to Relay. 
On the west and south this great gabbro area extends 
beyond the boundaries of our map. 

To the gabbro in metamorphosed form must also be 
reckoned the extensive belt of dark hornblendic rocks, 
partly massive and partly schistose, which are exposed 
along the Belair road all the way to the Gunpowder river. 
These represent the southern end of the great gabbro belt 
of Harford county which crosses the Susquehanna river 
at Dublin. This belt tapers toward the south, running 
out in thin beds intercalated in the gneisses and, there- 
fore, completely metamorphosed. The complete relation- 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 109 

ship is concealed by the overlying gravels of the Potomac 
formation, but the rocks are well exposed by Stemmer's, 
Moor's and Herring's runs ; also in Jones' Falls, south of 
Hoffman street, in Baltimore. In Gwynn's Falls; east 
of Wilkin's avenue, the hornblendic rocks only form a 
few narrow bands. The statistics of deep wells, sunk 
north and east of the city, indicate that these hornblendic 
rocks follow the north-west dip of gneiss to a consider- 
able depth, like intrusive sheets. 

A few unimportant layers of hornblendic rock, prob- 
ably representing old gabbro dykes, but now completely 
metamorphosed, also occur at other localities as, for 
instance, on the Gunpowder river above Loch Raven, 
at Warren's Mills and at Cub Hill. 

Effect upon the Gneiss. — Not only has the gabbro, in 
common with the other crystalline rocks of the Baltimore 
region, been the passive recipient of dynamic metamorph- 
ism, but it has itself been an active agent in modifying the 
surrounding gneisses, or the materials from which they 
were derived. The remarkable variation in the strike of 
the surrounding rocks which causes it to curve around the 
intrusive mass and remain approximately parallel to its 
boundary has already been noticed (p. 95). 

There is every evidence that the gabbro originally 
solidified at a considerable depth below the surface, and 
that it has since been exposed by the removal of the over- 
lying material. Under these conditions we might expect 
that so large a mass of eruptive matter would produce 
contact phenomena in the adjoining strata. This seems, 
to a certain extent, to have been the case. At least, there 
occurs around the large gabbro area, a very fine-grained 
8 



110 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

hornblende-gneiss which is capable of such an interpreta- 
tion. This rock is conformable to the adjoining gneisses, 
and resembles them in being more acid than the normal 
gabbro. It has received a special designation upon the 
map. It is not always present at the edge of the gab- 
bro, but a band of varying width extends from Relay 
to Woodberry, and it again occurs at the northern edge 
of the gabbro mass, between Pikesville and Mt. Wash- 
ington. In the writer's opinion this rock represents the 
effect of the gabbro in producing contact metamorphism 
in the surrounding gneisses. 

Alteration and Uses. — The gabbro offers great resistance 
to the ordinary processes of decomposition, and hence it is 
strewn abundantly all over the area which it occupies in 
the form of boulders. It is at the same time so hard, so 
heavy, and so jointed that it could not be quarried to any 
advantage as a building stone. The loose blocks are 
much used for constructing stone walls or foundations, and 
occasionally whole buildings are erected of them. This is 
the case with a church in Woodberry and with the new 
railway station at Arlington. 

The Non-feldspathic Eruptives. 1 

Petrogra r phical Character. — The second type of erup- 
tive rocks which penetrate the gneiss complex near Balti- 
more is younger than the gabbro, but is genetically closely 
allied to it. These two types are connected by many 

1 See, " The Non-feldspathic Intrusive Rocks of Maryland and the 
Course of their Alteration," by George H. Williams, American Geologist, 
July, 1890. 



Geology of the Crystalline Bocks. Ill 

intermediate varieties, and the more basic rocks, which 
break through the gabbros as well as through the gneiss, 
may be regarded as having resulted from a gabbro-magna 
which had become relatively poor in alumina, or in alum- 
ina and silica. The absence of alumina would prevent 
the formation of feldspar, and hence in the first case, 
crystalliation produced an aggregate of pyroxene (bron- 
zite and diallage) called pyroxenite (websterite) ; while in 
the second case an aggregate of olivine and pyroxene with 
more or less magnetite was the result. This type is called 
peridotite (lherzolite). These rocks have already been so 
thoroughly described by the writer in another place that 
no repetition is necessary here. 

Alteration. — The two non-feldspathic types of eruptive 
rocks, pyroxenite and peridotite, are peculiarly subject 
to alteration, which is not, however, decomposition. 
The details of this process are now being worked out. 
Briefly it is this : the pyroxene, when it occurs alone, 
tends to pass into secondary hornblende, and this in turn 
gives rise to talc. This is the origin of the extensive 
beds of steatite in eastern Maryland and Virginia. The 
talc is always mixed with more or less pale fibrous 
hornblende (tremolite) and chlorite. 

When, as in the peridotite, olivine accompanies the 
pyroxene, especially if it is bronzite, the rock tends to 
form serpentine instead of talc. The serpentine also 
contained secondary hornblende formed from the dial- 
lage. 

Distribution and uses. — Both types of non-feldspathic 
eruptives are very intimately associated. They do not, 
at least within the limits of our map, cover large areas, 



112 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

but occur in small lenticular patches. Varieties inter- 
mediate between the two extremes are common, so that 
the two alteration products, steatite and serpentine, are 
even more intimately mingled than the rocks themselves. 
The attempt has been made to approximately distinguish 
the most prominent occurrences of the unaltered rocks on 
the map, but the alteration products are not separated 
from one another. 

The best known and most extensive exposures of the 
basic eruptives within the limits of the Baltimore sheet 
are to be found in the well-known " Bare Hills," west 
of Lake Roland, and on the Falls turnpike. Just beyond 
the western border of the map there are other much more 
extensive areas. 

Rock similar to the serpentines near Baltimore are 
extensively quarried for building stone in Chester County, 
Pa., but in Baltimore County they possess neither the 
requisite extent nor compactness for this purpose. The 
principal use made of them within our region is as road 
ballast. The serpentine of the Bare Hills contains con- 
siderable chromite and it was formerly mined for this 
material. 

The steatite beds which have resulted from the altera- 
tion of the pyroxenite, although not quarried within the 
limits of our map, are quarried and manufactured near 
Marriottsville, on the adjoining sheet west. 

The Granite. 

Petrographical Character and Distribution. — The erup- 
tive granites of central Maryland rival the gabbros in 



Geology of the Crystalline Hocks. 113 

extent and petrographical interest, while they greatly 
surpass them in economic importance. 

These rocks are, as a rule, granitites, of medium grain 
and remarkably compact and homogeneous texture. They 
sometimes carry a considerable q uantity of muscovite (Guil- 
ford), and are noticeable for the large and constant pro- 
portion of allanite which they contain. This mineral is 
surrounded by a parallel growth of the isomorphous 
epidote, as described by Dr. W. H. Hobbs. 1 

Variations in the structure of the granites are due to 
the development of porphyritic crystals, as at Ellicott 
City and along the road from Meredith's Bridge on the 
Gunpowder river to Cockeysville. Other structural 
facies are due to secondary features, like foliation, pro- 
duced by dynamic agencies. 

The occurrence of only small and comparatively unim- 
portant areas of the granite within the limits of our map, 
as well as the fact that all these rocks are now being made 
the subject of an extended study, soon to be published by 
Mr. Chas. R. Keyes, renders a detailed description of 
them unnecessary in this place. 

There are but two areas of undoubtedly eruptive 
granite within the limits of our map. The largest of 
these is the oval boss which occupies an area of about 
four square miles to the east of the Texas-Cockeysville 
marble belt. This granite is entirely surrounded by the 
marble, although it is adjoined by gneiss on its north- 
west and southeast sides, and by a thin band of quartzite 

1 On the paragenesis of allanite and epidote as rock-forming min- 
erals. Am. Jour. Science, 3 ser., vol. 38, pp. 223-228. Sept., 1889. 



114 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

on the west. This rock is nowhere very well exposed, 
but it appears to be a normal granitite of medium grain, 
which has suffered very much from dynamic action. A 
considerable area on its eastern side is developed as a 
granite-porphyry, which the intense pressure has con- 
verted into a coarse Augen-gneiss. (See map). This 
granite now forms a level-topped plateau, crossed from 
north to south by the Pot Spring road. The softer and 
more soluble rocks which surround it dip away from the 
granite in all directions, and, by their more rapid erosion, 
have left it completely encircled by a valley. 

The second granite area is a narrow belt covering less 
than a square mile, which lies wholly within the gabbro, 
and extends from Highland Park to the Franklin road. 
This rock is quarried on the old Winan estate near 
Gwynn's Falls, and is represented in the 10th census 
collection of building stones in the National Museum. 
This granite has, like the other, been subjected to con- 
siderable dynamic metamorphism, and is in places quite 
gneissoid. 

The Maryland granites are very much younger than 
the other eruptive types, and are not connected with them, 
as they are with each other, by intermediate varieties. 
They represent an entirely distinct epoch of eruptive 
activity. The evidence of their eruptive origin is most 
satisfactory and conclusive, although it must be sought 
without the boundaries of our particular map. They 
form intrusive bosses with diverging dykes and apophyses; 
they produce disturbance and crumpling in the rocks 
through which they break ; they enclose fragments of the 
older rocks — gneiss, marble, quartz-schist, gabbro, and 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 115 

pyroxenite; and finally they produce all the well-known 
phenomena of contact-metamorphism, both in these frag- 
ments and in the rocks which adjoin them. 

The granites are extensively quarried for building and 
paving stones at Woodstock, Sykesville, Granite, Ellicott 
City, and Guilford, which, although not within the limits 
of the Baltimore sheet, represent the great granite masses 
just west of it. 

The Pegmatite. 

Petrographical Charade?' and Distribution. — The 
gneisses of the Baltimore region are penetrated with a 
v great abundance of dykes, veins and " eyes " of the coarse 
grained aggregate of quartz, feldspar and mica, known 
as pegmatite. The other crystalline rocks of the region, 
although to a less extent, contain the same material. 

The Baltimore pegmatites are composed of a flesh-red 
or brownish microcline in large and brilliant cleavage 
plates, greenish-grey albite, gray quartz, and either a jet 
black, nearly uniaxial mica (lepidcmelane), or a light 
colored, biaxial one (muscovite). 1 In some cases the 
mica is nearly or wholly absent, and the quartz and micro- 
cline have that peculiar intergrowth which is known as 
graphic granite. Good specimens of this occur at the 
Jones' Falls gneiss quarries and near Orange Grove, on 
the Patapsco river. In still other cases even the feldspar 
decreases in amount, until the pegmatite comes to resem- 
ble a quartz vein. 

1 The microcline and albite were analyzed by Mr. F. L. Nason ; 
the black mica by F. W. Clarke and R. B. Riggs. See Notes on the 
Minerals occurring in the Neighborhood of Baltimore, 1S87, p. G, and Bul- 
letin U. S. Geological Survey, No. 55, p. 14. 



116 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

As is usual in coarse or pegmatitic granites, unusual 
minerals are often found in good sized and well developed 
crystals. Among those noticed in the Baltimore pegma- 
tites may be mentioned black tourmaline, red garnet, 
apatite and sphene. A fragment once obtained by Mr. 
H. A. Brooks, at the Jones' Falls quarries in pegmatite, 
was determined by Prof. G. A. Konig as samarskite. 
Tyson also mentions beryl. 

Veins or dykes of pegmatite are extraordinarily 
abundant in the gneiss. They are well displayed along 
Gwynn's Falls; on the Patapsco river ; along Jones' Falls, 
particularly in the gneiss quarries ; and along the Gun- 
powder. Both the muscovite and the lepidomelane- 
pegmatite occur in the gneiss, but the latter has been 
noticed only in this formation, while the former occurs 
in the gabbro, hornblende gneiss and limestone as well. 

Origin. — The origin of pegmatite is a matter which has 
of late years been very much discussed. Two main views 
are sustained which are connected by a considerable num- 
ber of intermediate hypotheses. 1 One school, following 
Charpentier, JNaumann and Brogger, maintain that peg- 
matite is eruptive ; while the other holds with Saussure, 
Hunt and Herm. Credner,* that it is the product of 
lateral seggregation by aqueous agencies. 

Within the Baltimore region the pegmatite appears to 
have been produced in both these ways. At least we 
seem compelled by direct evidence to assume that certain 
occurrences of it are true eruptive dykes, genetically 

1 For an admirable summary of all the various theories regarding 
the origin of pegmatite, see W. C. Brogger in the Zeitschrift far Krys- 
tallographie, vol. 16, pp. 215-226, 1890. 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 117 

related to the normal eruptive granites already described. 
For other occurrences an aqueous origin, by seggrega- 
tion, appears more probable, although the proof is not 
as good as in the former cases. The evidence in favor 
of each of these origins may be stated in brief. 

Proofs of Eruptive Origin. 1 1 . They have the structure 
and composition of true eruptive granites. 

2. They occur in true branching dykes, cutting across 
the strike of the including rocks at all angles. 

3. They are sometimes finer grained at the edges of 
the dykes than in the center (Orange Grove). 

4. They include large and small fragments of the 
adjoining rock which are greatly displaced, so that their 
foliation stands at all angles within the dyke. 

5. The amount of pegmatite at any locality stands in 
direct connection with its proximity to some large area 
of eruptive granite. This is admirably seen along the 
Patapsco river between Ilchester and Relay ; also in the 
neighborhood of Ellicott City. It is strongly suggestive 
that the source of the pegmatite was in some way con- 
nected with the granite magma. 

6. The extent and nature of the pegmatite is wholly 
independent of the surrounding rock. The same musco- 
vite pegmatite occurs in the basic gabbro near Mt. Hope 
and between Gwynn's Falls and the Liberty Road ; in the 
gneiss along Jones 7 Falls and the Gunpowder river, and 
in the dolomitic marble between Notch Cliff and Snm- 
merfield. The same dyke even extends from one of these 

^or'a detailed description of two occurrences of eruptive peg- 
matite near Baltimore, see George H. Williams: Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity Circulars, vol. 4, p. 65, No. 38, March, 1885. 



118 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

formations into another without the least change in its 
character. 

The strongest proof advanced in favor of the origin of 
pegmatite by seggregation is that the rock either ceases 
altogether, or changes its character on passing from one 
formation to another of different composition. What- 
ever may be the facts in other regions, this is certainly 
not true of most of the pegmatites occurring near Balti- 
more, and the opposite is considered to be good evidence 
of their exotic and eruptive origin. 

Proofs of Seggregation. With regard to certain other 
occurrences of pegmatite in the gneisses near Baltimore, 
the evidence seems to be rather in- favor of an origin by 
seggregation or some aqueous means. While the rocks 
themselves may be petrographically quite like those men- 
tioned above, certain things about their mode of occur- 
rence render a different origin probable. These points 
may be summarized as follows : 

1. They have a more or less pronounced zonal struc- 
ture like ore veins. 

2. They occur in lenticular "eyes" in the gneiss, 
which are enclosed on all sides, and have no visible con- 
nection with any foreign source of supply. 

3. They are not sharply defined against the surround- 
ing gneiss, as are the above described dykes, but they 
merge gradually into this rock. 

4. They are genetically related to the abundant quartz- 
veins, and may pass into such veins by a gradual diminu- 
tion of their micaceous and feldspathic constituents. »Some 
of these veins are typical pegmatites in one part and typi- 
cal vein-quartz in another. 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 119 

Pegmatite of this latter class occurs only in the gneiss, 
to which it has the closest chemical similarity and from 
which its material may well have been derived. 

In view of these facts it seems necessary to assume a two- 
fold origin for the Baltimore pegmatites, even though hand 
specimens of the two varieties might not be distinguishable. 

Quartz-veins. — The quartz- veins above alluded to are 
genetically related to the pegmatites of the second class 
and deserve mention on account of their great abundance. 
In many localities where the rock is superficially much 
decayed the ground is covered with boulders of so-called 
" flint." It is usually supposed by the farmers that this 
substance must altogether compose the underlying rock, 
but at a favorable exposure this can readily be seen not 
to be the case. These boulders merely represent the in- 
destructible substance of the quartz-veins, which has been 
left in the soil formed by the decomposition of the enclos- 
ing gneiss. 

The great abundance of the vein-quartz all through 
the metamorphic portion of Maryland, may be taken as a 
good indication of the amount of faulting and dislocation 
to which it has been subjected. Vein-quartz is the sub- 
stance with which Nature heals the wounds in the earth's 
crust, and its occurrence marks the scars caused by ancient 
fractures. 

In some places, just outside our sheet, the vein-quartz 
becomes a substance of economic importance. North of 
Marriottsville and at Castleton, Harford County, it is 
quarried and ground to be used in the manufacture of 
porcelain, for which purpose it is shipped to Baltimore 
and to Trenton, N. J., in large quantity. 



120 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

ORE DEPOSITS. 1 

Aside from the marble, gneiss, granite, steatite and 
quartz quarried for building and other purposes, the 
crystalline rocks near Baltimore yield little of economic 
value. 

What there is in the way of ore deposits that have 
been worked within the limits of our map, possess an 
historic rather than a present interest. They may be 
grouped under the three heads of iron, chrome and 
copper ores. 

Iron or'es. — These are iron hydroxides or bog iron ores, 
commonly known as " brown hematites," and occur in 
the crystalline limestones near their contact with the 
gneiss. In the northern portion of the sheet there are 
many extensive beds of this ore which were formerly 
worked and the product sent to the Ashland furnace. 
The ore is very easily reduced and valued for mixing 
with others of a more refractory nature. The grade is, 
however, low, and none of the ore-beds are at present 
being worked, nor is the Ashland furnace in blast. The 
principal openings are north of Towson, near Timoneum 
and Lutherville, on the north side of the Green Spring 
valley near its upper end, on the small limestone area 
known as " The Caves," and at Oregon. 2 

1 For list of all mineral substances of industrial importance occur- 
ring -within the State of Maryland, by Professor John C. Smock, see 
Mineral Resources of the U. S., vol. I, 1883, pp. 690-693. 

2 For descriptions and analyses of these deposits, see vol. 15, Reports 
of the 10th Census, pp. 254-257, 1886. 



Geology of the Crystalline Rocks. 121 

The occurrence and origin of these ore beds is the 
same as those of Pennsylvania, where they have been 
more extensively studied. Theories of their origin have 
been advanced by J. D. Dana, 1 Prime, Frazer 2 and Ew- 
ing. 3 Dana and Ewing consider the ores to have been 
principally derived from the oxidation of ferrous or fer- 
riferous carbonates originally in the limestones. Benton 
makes similar observations on the limonites of Wythe 
Co., Va. 4 Frazer considers the ores to have been formed 
from the extensive oxidation of pyrite which once 
existed in the underlying slates. Prime states that they 
are due sometimes to the leeching of the hydromica 
schists, and sometimes of the limestone, and says that it 
is easy to distinguish the two cases. 

Other important, but much younger, iron ores occur 
near Baltimore in the form of carbonate nodules in the 
clays of the Potomac .(Jurassic) formation. 5 

Chrome Ore. — This was formerly worked to some 
extent by the Tysons in the serpentine of the Bare 
Hills. 6 The pits at this "locality have long since been 
abandoned, but they still furnish some interesting min- 
eral specimens, including chromite, rhodochrome, talc, 
magnesite and opal. 

1 On the making of limonite ore beds, American Journal of Science, 
3d series, vol. 28, p. 398, Nov., 1884. 

'Reports of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, vol. 
C, p. 136. 

3 Ditto, vol. T-4, pp. 406-410. 

4 See vol. 15, Reports of 10th Census, p. 275, 1886. 

5 Ibid., pp. 245-254 ; also, page 135 of this book. 

6 See page 60 of this book. 



122 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity . 

Copper Ore. — There is but one vein of copper ore 
(chalcopyrite) within the boundaries of our map that 
has ever been worked. This is in the hornblende gneiss 
on the south side of the Bare Hills and about one mile 
west of Mt. Washington. An oblique shaft has been 
sunk along the 45° dip of the vein for eight hundred 
feet. The product has never been important, but the 
mine has been worked sporadically since 18 45. It pro- 
duces considerable that is of mineralogical interest beside 
its copper ore. The gangue of the vein is a peculiar 
variety of amphibole in broad brown blades which has 
the chemical composition of anthophyllite, but whose 
optical behavior is monoclinic. It is the mineral ara- 
phible-anthophyllite of Des Cloizeaux. 1 Other minerals 
found at this mine are hornblende, chlorite, pyrite, bor- 
nite, and sharply crystallized octahedral magnetite. 

Another vein of copper ore is deserving of mention in 
this connection on account both of its scientific and econ- 
omic interest, in spite of the fact that it lies beyond the 
western boundary of our map'. This vein can be traced 
with great distinctness from a point south of the Patapsco 
river at Sykesville to Finksburg in Carroll County, and 
with less distinctness to Blue Mount, south of Whitehall 
on the Northern Central railroad, and to Cooptown in 
Harford County. On it are situated the old Springfield 
mine at Sykesville, the Mineral Hill mine, the Patapsco 
mine near Finksburg. All of these have been valuable 
in their day, that at Sykesville being the most so. This 

1 For description of this mineral and analysis by C. S. Palmer, see 
American Naturalist, Sept., 1885; and Neues Jahrbuchfur Mineralogie, 
etc., 1885, ii, p. 175. 



Geology of the Crystalline Rooks. 123 

locality was first opened on the old Patterson estate by 
Jas. W. Tyson in 1849 as an iron mine (magnetite), the 
ore being reduced in his Elba furnace, just below Sykes- 
ville. With increasing depth, however, the ore changed 
from magnetite to chalcopyrite, and the mine was worked 
with profit for copper until 1868. The product was in 
1858, 475 tons; in 1859, 684 tons; in 1860, 738 tons; 
and 1861, 1,728 tons. 

At Mineral Hill, half way between Sykesville and 
Finksburg, an opening was made for copper as far back 
as revolutionary times. This locality was opened again 
by Mr. Tyson in 1849, and has been worked at intervals 
until quite recently. In 1888 the main shaft followed 
the vein with a 50° dip for 370 feet below the surface. 
There was an adit from Morgan's Run for 190 feet, and 
levels at 60, 120 and 180 feet. The ore produced is 
chalcopyrite, bornite and chalcocite, together with some 
magnetite. 

The Patapsco Mine at Finksburg was first opened by 
Mr. Tyson about the same time as the others. It is like 
the others in character. It was abandoned at the break- 
ing out of the war, but was reopened for magnetite by a 
Philadelphia company in 1880. These workings have 
been totally abandoned for ten years past. 

These copper deposits are all on a true fissure vein, 
whose existence can be traced continuously across Carroll 
County. It represents a line of considerable dislocation 
as may be seen from the greatly contorted and faulted 
character of the material brought up from the workings. 
The nature of the vein may best be studied at Mineral 
Hill. The gangue is largely talc (steatite), often con- 



124 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

taining rhombs of siderite. With this are associated as 
gangue minerals actinolite, epidote and quartz. There is 
also some quartzose slate gangue. The nature of the 
deposit as a true fissure vein seems beyond a doubt, and 
it is not impossible that more extensive explorations might 
reveal even larger masses of ore than those heretofore 
brought to light. 

These three copper mines, aside from their economic 
importance, possess a peculiar scientific interest for hav- 
ing produced some unique minerals. Carrollite (or cuban 
with cobalt in place of the iron) is known only from the 
Springfield and Patapsco mines, 1 while remingtonite, a 
rose-colored hydrous cobalt carbonate, occurs at the latter 
as its sole locality. Native gold in thin flakes occurs on 
foliated magnetite at Mineral Hill, and pyrite, bornite, 
siegenite and malachite may be mentioned as occur- 
ring at all. 



1 See, Smith and Brush : Beexamination of some American minerals, 
American Journal of Science, 2d series, vol. 16, 1853. 



THE GEOLOGY OF BALTIMORE AND ITS VICINITY. 
PART II. 



PHYSIOGRAPHY OF THE REGION AND GEOL- 
OGY OF THE SEDIMENTARY ROCKS. 

By N. H. Darton, 

Of the U. S. Geological Survey. 



PHYSIOGRAPHY. 

The city of Baltimore is situated on the border zone 
between two great physiographic provinces — the Pied- 
mont plateau and the Coastal plain. The Piedmont 
plateau comprises the wide belt of contorted crystalline 
rocks extending to the Appalachians ; the Coastal plain 
is the region of gently east dipping Mesozoic to Pleistocene 
sediments which borders the Atlantic Ocean from New 
York to Florida. 

While both provinces are included in a great plain or 
series of plains which extend from the Appalachians to 
the Ocean with gradually decreasing elevation, most of 
their surface features are very dissimilar. In the Pied- 
mont plateau the plains represent an old base level carved 
9 125 



126 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

in the crystalline rocks and were originally quite level 
but as there is now no protecting mantle and the crystal- 
line surface is deeply softened by decay, the old plains 
have given place to an undulate contour for much of the 
area. The streams having to cut in hard rocks, have 
excavated narrow channels with steep, but relatively uni- 
form declivities. In the Coastal plain the drainage has 
cut widely and deeply into the soft sediments, and the 
streams of the Piedmont plateau flow eastward to the 
ocean through wide basins, which now hold tidal estuaries 
in the case of the larger rivers. These basins are terraced 
more or less widely with Pleistocene river deposits and 
although these lateral terraces extend as narrow shelves 
up some of the Piedmont gorges for a few miles, they 
are characteristic of the Coastal plain. Southward from 
the latitude of Washington, the Coastal plain is character- 
ized by broad areas of a high, very flat, gravel-capped 
plain, but this plain is widely eroded northward, and 
finally represented only by a few scattered fragments on 
the highest divides. 

A single general drainage system is common to the 
Piedmont plateau and Coastal plain, although in the 
western part of the former, the main lines of drainage 
were indented and more or less extensively developed 
before the Coastal plain had finally emerged. The great 
streams flow through the Appalachian ridges and across 
the Piedmont and Coastal plain regions to the sea without 
relation to rock texture, but on the Coastal plain between 
the Hudson and Rappahannock rivers they are deflected 
southward. These deflections owe their origin to irregu- 
larities in the submarine surface, which on the emergence 



Geology of the Sedimentary Rocks. 127 

of the region in late Tertiary, gave direction to the east- 
ward extension of the streams. 

The border zone, in which the Piedmont plateau and 
the Coastal plain merge, is a region presenting certain 
noteworthy physiographic characteristics. In the divides 
the level surface of the high plains is continuous across 
the feathered edges of the Coastal plain deposits, and the 
termination of these deposits is not marked by conspicuous 
topographic features. In the drainage ways the streams 
flow out of the narrow rock-bound valleys of the Pied- 
mont region into wide basins in the soft Coastal plain 
sediments, and river terraces become conspicuous. With 
the disappearance of the crystalline rocks, falls and 
rapids in most cases give place of quiet waters. In the 
larger streams, tide water extend to the edge of the crys- 
tallines or a short way beyond, and this juxtaposition of 
the head of navigation and water power, at what is termed 
the " fall line," was chiefly instrumental in locating along 
the border zone, certain of the early settlements which 
eventually became the cities of Trenton, Philadelphia, 
Baltimore, Washington, Fredericksburg, Richmond, 
Petersburg and some other places. 

Baltimore is on the Patapsco river near the head of tide, 
but the city is built in greater part on the slopes adjoining 
a side stream known as Jones' Falls. The region is one 
in which the Coastal plain deposits have been deeply and 
widely eroded and consequently, presents great diversity 
in its topography. The city occupies sloping Pleistocene 
terraces of thexPatapsco depression, extending northward 
from the river to an altitude of 200 feet. To the south 
and east these terraces have been deeply eroded, giving 



128 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

place to wide areas of rounded surface, but fragments of 
the terraces are prominent on some of the higher summits, 
and they also constitute low plains adjoining the rivers. 

This region is sharply demarked to the west and north- 
west by the steep slopes of the shore line of the open sea 
of Pleistocene times, which passes just north of Baltimore 
and extends for many miles to the northwest and south- 
west with great distinctness. 

To the north and west of this shore line the country rises 
gradually, and its surface is broken by rounded ridges of 
irregular outline, and by deep, steep-sided drainage ways. 
Farther back in the higher lands, some of its outlying 
remnants are met with, and then the edge of the old base- 
level plain, which, although deeply intersected by drainage, 
is still represented by wide areas of original surface but 
slightly rounded in contour. In this part of the region 
there are certain secondary features which most clearly 
illustrate the relations of rock texture to topographic form. 
The more elevated areas are mainly underlain by gabbro, 
granite and gneiss, and enclose a sharply demarked de- 
pression of considerable extent excavated in the softer 
marbles. This depression is very irregular in outline, 
has a typical rolling surface, and its widest area, instead 
of being a valley, is a general divide for the drainage of 
a large district. The hard quartz-schist of the Towson 
region give rise to a prominent ridge rising very abruptly 
as part of the rim of the marble depression. 

Another prominent feature is the deep gorge of the 
Gunpowder river which traverses the region, and although 
this gorge does not differ materially from other Piedmont 
stream cuts, it has some interesting relations. It flows 



Geology of the Sedimentary Rocks. 129 

from the north into a corner of the marble depression, but 
instead of flowing around the ends of the high ridges of 
granite and gneiss, as might be expected, it cuts across 
them without material deflection. As in the case of the 
other larger drainage ways of the Piedmont plateau and 
the Coastal plain, the course of this river was determined 
when the region was evenly mantled by a level sheet of 
littoral deposits, which on emerging from the seas was 
indented by drainage systems in no way influenced in 
their course by the nature of the subterrain. Once estab- 
lished, the conditions have remained favorable in their 
courses, and the streams have finally cut their original 
channels down to their present depths. 

GEOLOGY OF THE SEDIMENTARY ROCKS. 

THE GENERAL STRUCTURE. 

In the Baltimore region four of the great Coastal plain 
formations are represented, together with the physiogra- 
phic products of several periods of erosion and topo- 
graphic development. The general relations of these, 
and their nature, are indicated in the following table : 

Formations, etc. 



Columbia. 



etc. Characters. 


Age. 


Alluvium (mainly below tide 


Recent. 


water) and Marsh. 




Erosion interval. Dissection 


Later 


of Columbia plains. 


Pleistocene. 


Gravels, sands and loams. 


Early 


Maximum thickness, 25 feet. 


Pleistocene. 


Erosion interval. Develop- 




ment of outlines of present 




topography. 


Pliocene (?). 



130 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

Formations, etc. Characters. Age. 

Lafayette. Gravels and sands. Thick- Pliocene (?). 

ness, 10 to 20 feet. 
Erosion interval. Cutting of Miocene (?), 

the great base-level plains. 

Chesapeake (?). 



i (?). Soft buff sands. Thickness, 


Miocene. 


12 feet, 




Erosion interval. Following 


Eocene to 


deposition of Pamunkey and 


Cretaceous. 


Severn formations. 




Clays, sands and gravels. 


Early 


Thickness, 350 feet or more. 


Cretaceous. 


Great erosion interval. 





Potomac. 



Owing to subsidence, which is now in progress in the 
Coastal plain region, alluvium is deposited in tide water, 
and is a surface deposit only on freshet plains where its 
presence is transient. Marsh growth has kept pace with 
this subsidence at some localities, and there are several 
tide-marsh areas of small extent in the vicinity of Bal- 
timore. 

The Columbia formation lies on terraced plains cut 
on the surface of preceding formations. These plains 
originally covered the entire region to the east and south 
of Baltimore, and extended for many miles up the de- 
pressions in the higher lands to the north and west. 
Owing to tilting, the plane of deposition is now inclined 
from below tide-water level eastward, to an altitude of 
nearly 400 feet, northwestward. 

The Lafayette formation originally capped the east- 
ward extension of the great late Tertiary plain which is 
now represented in the Baltimore region by the high 



Geology of the Sedimentary Rocks. 131 



»iro 

touop 



& 



5 -S3 



plateaus of crystalline rocks, and a 
few small outliers of the Lafayette 
formation. In these outliers the 
formation is inclined gently east- 
ward and overlaps the edges of pre- 
ceding formations. 

The Chesapeake formation, which 
is so extensively developed to the 
southeastward, is represented on 
the Baltimore sheet by only a small 
thin wedge lying on an irregular 
surface on the Potomac formation. 
The Pamunkey (Eocene) and 
Severn (Cretaceous) formations, 
which are conspicuous members of 
the Coastal plain series to the 
southeast, are wanting in the Bal- 
timore region. How far they may 
have extended originally and their 
history westward are not known. 
The Potomac formation is the 
most prominent representative of 
the Coastal plain series about Bal- 
timore. It lies directly on a some- 
what irregular floor of crystalline 
rocks, which slopes gradually to 
the southeastward from an altitude 
of 500 feet at Catonsville and Tow- 
son and is finally buried beneath 
several hundred feet of the forma- 
tion. Owing to the gradual incli- 



132 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vieinity. 

nation of the crystalline floor, the margin of the formation 
in its extension westward is broken into fingers and out- 
liers separated by drainage depressions cut through the 
sediments more or less deeply into the crystallines. The 
Potomac formation also occurs in the marble depression 
about Lutherville which indicates that this depression 
was excavated in pre-Potomac times. 

The Baltimore region is traversed by a dislocation or 
fault of small amount, the greater part of the course of 
which is apparently coincident with the shore lines of the 
open seas of the Columbia submergence. In the imme- 
diate vicinity of the city of Baltimore, its presence is not 
established, but to the southwest and northeast its effects 
are appreciable. It traverses the Potomac formation and 
its crystalline floor, with a downthrow on the eastern side, 
of from 20 to 80 feet but generally near 50 feet. This 
amount is not sufficient to materially disturb the areal 
continuity of the Potomac deposits, but it gives rise to 
a noticeable scarp in the crystalline rocks at most points. 
The movement was mainly post-Columbian and it may 
extend into recent times and now be in progress. 

THE FORMATIONS. 

The Columbia Formation. — The characters of the forma- 
tion present considerable variety in the Baltimore region. 
Adjoining the shore line in the northern section of the 
city it consists of a gravel bed below, grading into 
a buff-brown loam above, having all the characteristics 
which it presents in the type exposures about Washington. 1 

1 See McGee, American Journal of Science, 3d series, vol. 35, page 
125-130, 1888. See second of the two geological maps. 



Geology of the Sedimentary Rocks. 133 

There are fine exposures of this phase of the formation 
in the cuts for the Belt line railroad along Seventh street 
on Peabody Heights, where the gravels lie on Potomac 
clays, sands aud gravels and overlaps on to the crystal- 
lines. Also in the western edge of the city; at Lafayette 
Station, and at several points along North avenue, par- 
ticularly near Green mount cemetery, in all of which it 
lies on Potomac sands. 

In its extension eastward and southward on the higher 
levels, particularly on Patapsco Neck, interbedded and 
intermingled sands and gravels are most conspicuous, 
although the bipartite gravel and loam appears locally. 
In the low terrace fringing the southern portion of the 
city and extending eastward along the Patapsco Neck, 
gravels and gravelly sands predominate, which finally 
give place to grey sandy loams as the river is descended. 

In the Gunpowder and Jones' Falls depressions there 
are many small remnants of gravels which are continuous 
with the shore deposits at the 200 foot level at the edge 
of the open sea of Columbia submergence but gradually 
increase in altitude as the valleys are ascended, finally to 
nearly 400 feet. The formation was originally a more or 
less continuous sheet in these depressions but now it remains 
only on narrow shelves in their narrower portions, and on 
the summits where the valleys are wide, as in the marble 
region. This portion of the formation consists of quartz 
and quartzite gravels, boulders and fragments. Its 
thickness varies from beds of appreciable thickness near 
Cockeysville quarries and between Bosley and Dulaney 
valley, to discontinuous sprinklings which constitute the 
greater number of areas. 



134 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

A large part of the region submerged in Columbia 
times is now widely eroded and the deposits removed. 
On some of the summits and divides no traces of the 
formation are differentiable, although in these districts it 
is probable that the deposits were very scanty and con- 
sisted of a thin wash of local detritus, not conspicuously 
dissimilar from the subterrain. 

The Lafayette Formation. — This prominent member 
of the Coastal plain series has been nearly all eroded 
from the Baltimore region. In the high ridges east of 
Towson there are remnants capping the Potomac sands 
and gravels, and about Catonsville there is an outlier 
of considerable extent. The materials consist of quartzite 
and quartz pebbles, mainly of moderate size, imbedded 
in buff and red sandy loams. The pebbles are usually 
stained red superficially — a nearly general characteristic 
of the formation. The clearest exposures are in the rail- 
road cuts between Catonsville and State Asylum, and in 
the ridge just east of Cowpen Station and a mile due east. 

The Chesapeake Formation. — The small, thin outlier, 
probably of this formation, on the Catonsville ridge, con- 
sists of fine, soft, buff sands, which have a maximum 
thickness of only twelve feet. Its best exposures are in a 
fine section along the railroad, about a half mile south of 
Catonsville, where it is seen to be intercalated between 
the Potomac sandy clays below and the Lafayette gravels 
above, lying nearly horizontal. It is also to be seen in 
a pit in the village where it is worked to a small extent 
for moulding sand. Its precise limits have not been 
determined. 



Geology of the Sedimentary Rocks. 135 

The Potomac Formation. — This formation consists of 
a great series of sands and "clays lying directly on the 
crystalline rocks, and occupying the surface for a con- 
siderable width in the Baltimore region. Southeastward 
it thickens gradually, finally to over 300 feet, and in 
fifteen miles, dips gently below the Severn sands, which 
are the attenuated southern extension of the New Jersey 
greensand series. Northwestward it has been deeply 
eroded, and finally feathers out in an irregular belt of 
ridges and outliers which attain a maximum altitude of 
500 feet at Catonsville and Towson. In this region the 
greater mass of the formation consists mainly of clays, 
usually of bright tints of buff, grey, pink or brown, but 
they are often white, locally, and not infrequently black. 
Scattered irregularly through this portion of the forma- 
tion, intercalated beds of sharp, white sands are often 
met with, and in some cases they attain considerable 
thickness. These sands generally are sharply demarked 
from the clays below, indicating sudden change in the 
conditions of sedimentation and often local erosion, but 
laterally and upward they grade into the clays. In 
many cases, also, the sands and clays are streaked together 
and intermingled. The clays also contain occasional beds 
of lignite and much scattered lignitic material. 

It is in this clay series that the well known siderite 
iron ores of eastern Maryland occur, which have been 
worked to a moderate extent for over a century in a belt 
extending about twenty miles north and south from Bal- 
timore. The siderites are concretionary in nature, and 
are distributed irregularly through certain portions of 
the clays in nodules and streakings. The most exten- 



136 Ihe Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

sive mine now in operation is near Hanover Station, 
about thirteen miles south of Baltimore, but there are 
also instructive workings on the east side of Federal 
Hill, in the southern part of the city. 

Towards the western margin and shore of the Potomac 
formation, sandy beds predominate, although quite pure 
clays lie directly on the crystalline rocks at some locali- 
ties. The marginal sands are often quite pure for a 
considerable thickness, or only slightly streaked with 
clay or ferruginous layers, and they are extensively 
worked for building sands in Baltimore and vicinity. 
The finest exposures are along the western edge of the 
city proper, adjoining the eastern fork of Gwynn's run, but 
there are also good exposures along North avenue, oppo- 
site the northeastern corner of Green mount cemetery. 

In the ridges and outliers north of Baltimore, the shore 
line deposits consist mainly of gravels and light colored 
gravelly arkosic sands. These gravels lie on the crystalline 
rocks, and at some localities attain a thickness of twenty- 
five feet. They grade into sands and clays above, and later- 
ally, and their distribution is very irregular. The finest 
exposures are out Charles Street avenue and near Govans- 
town, where the gravels have been quarried to some extent 
for road making ; a use for which they are well adapted. 

In the marble depression the formation occurs on the 
summits about Lutherville, extending from altitudes of 
390 to 440 feet above tide. In this district the formation 
consists of sands, gravels and clays, having every 
characteristic of the Potomac deposits farther south. 
The Potomac formation is the only fossiliferous member 
of the Coastal plain series about Baltimore. Its clays 



Geology of the Sedimentary Rocks. 137 

and sands contain plant remains in considerable variety. 
Federal Hill is the best known locality near Baltimore. 

MESOZOIC TO PLEISTOCENE HISTOEY. 

The geologic history of the Baltimore region is not as 
yet fully deciphered, but recent studies have thrown 
considerable light on the conditions during parts of the 
time. It would increase the length of these notes too 
greatly to give all the evidence bearing on the history of 
the region and the following account is limited in the 
main to a resume of the principal episodes. 

The earliest condition of which the record is clear is 
the great plain on which the Potomac formation was 
deposited. This plain was relatively level, but in the 
marble area north of Towson its continuity was locally 
interrupted by an irregular depression. The plain ex- 
tended many miles westward, apparently entirely across 
the present Piedmont plateau. 

The planing was followed by an early Cretaceous sub- 
mergence attended by the deposition of the littoral sedi- 
ments of the Potomac formation which finally covered 
the plain, probably to its western edge, and with a gradual 
increase of thickness eastward. 

Potomac deposition gave place to uplift and erosion, 
but to an amount not definitely known. This era was 
followed by a series of periods of submergence and depo- 
sition separated by intervals of emergence and planing, 
during which the Severn (Cretaceous), Pamunkey (Eocene) 
and Chesapeake (Miocene) formations were deposited in 
successive sheets over the Coastal plain region. About 



138 The Geology of Baltimore and its Vicinity. 

Baltimore this series is now represented only by a small, 
deeply eroded remnant of the Chesapeake formation, and 
no data is available concerning the extent, relations or 
local history of the formations in this region. During 
this Cretaceous to Miocene interval, the Piedmont region 
westward was gradually tilted upward and its surface 
more or less extensively eroded. 

The next era was a late Tertiary emergence which 
resulted in wide-spread planing. The Piedmont plateau 
region was cleared of Potomac remnants westward, the 
old pre-Potomac plain was recut so as to mask the details of 
prexistant topographic forms, if not entirely to efface them, 
and the Coastal plain region was deeply planed. The result 
was an erosion-plain of vast extent. In the submergence 
following this era, the gravels and sands of the Lafayette 
formation were deposited as a thick mantle spread over 
the entire eastern part of the plain, from an irregular 
shore line, which, in the Baltimore region, was not far 
beyond the eroded edges of the preceding Coastal plain 
formations. On the crystalline plains between Pikesville 
and Baltimore no deposition appears to have taken place, 
unless, perhaps, a slight local rearrangement of decomposed 
crystalline detritus, and the outliers on the high ridges at 
Catonsville and east of Towson appear to be at the shore 
line. 

Lafayette deposition was succeeded by emergence at- 
tended by the development of the present drainage sys- 
tems in the Lafayette covered regions and the revival of 
drainage in the replaned belt on the Piedmont plateau. 
The drainage systems rapidly removed the greater part 
of the Lafayette formation in the Baltimore region, and 



Geology of the Sedimentary Rocks. 139 

deeply eroded the underlying formations and crystalline 
rocks, giving rise to the general features of the present 
topography, above the line of Columbia submergence. 

This submergence was the next event, and its deposits 
were laid in a sheet of variable thickness over the entire 
region about Baltimore to the south and east, and on the 
floor of the valleys of the principal drainage ways to the 
north and west. 

Columbia deposition gave place to emergence, and the 
erosion of the sub-Columbia surface to its present form. 
This emergence was greater in amount toward the north- 
west, for it has tilted the Columbia formation several 
hundred feet out of its original plane. 

The next era is the present. It is one of gradual 
submergence eastward, which has resulted in the invasion 
of tide water up the drainage ways for some distance. 
It is no doubt, connected with the dislocation and possibly, 
also, in part, with the tilting of the Columbia deposits. 



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